Change of Heart
by dejiko001
Summary: Katsuki Bakugo, a 20-year-old college sophomore, was often preoccupied with his obligations, such as school or work. He had few friends and never befriended any of his neighbors until one day, Tsuyu Asui, his 19-year-old classmate from back in high school, coincidentally moved in next door. Now, Katsuki must come face-to-face with his past scars, whether he liked it or not.
1. A Coincidental Meeting

**Disclaimer:** I don't own **_My Hero Academia_** and any of its characters used in this fanfic.

 **A/N:** Hello, everyone, and welcome to my very first contribution to the _My Hero Academia_ fandom!

I honestly never thought I'd find myself lurking in this fandom for fanfics or...anything, really, even though I do keep up with the English volume releases. (This means I don't rely on the English scanlations, so _please_ avoid mentioning spoilers to me.) I am definitely behind on the anime, though, because I've been busy and, well, I prefer the English dub voices over the Japanese dub. (Compared to the Japanese dub, the English dub voices fit the ones I had in my head while reading the manga a lot better.)

Since I enjoy the English dub and read the English volume releases here in the U.S., all my spellings and references are related to those things. This also means no honorifics, even though I know how big of a deal they are in Japanese, especially for some of the characters (e.g., Tsuyu calls Katsuki as "Bakugo-chan" and insists every one of her friends to call her "Tsuyu-chan," whereas in the English dub, she just calls Katsuki by his last name and insists that her friends call her by "Tsu").

Honestly, I didn't think I would write anything for this fandom because I didn't have an OTP that inspired me enough...until I found out that Katsuyu existed. I mean, I had a feeling about it since I first saw Tsuyu tease Katsuki, but it _finally_ clicked with me when I started discovering fanart for them on Tumblr. (Anyone who is a Katsuyu fan knows who I'm talking about here.)

So, big shout-out to everyone in the Katsuyu group chat on LINE! Seriously, if it weren't for you guys, I don't think I ever would've started writing this fanfic. And shout-out to those in the Katsuyu group chat on Twitter! I know the Twitter one got formed recently, and some of you on LINE are on there, but shout-out to all of you for being such awesome Katsuyu shippers and feeding me such _amazing_ Katsuyu fuel I never knew I needed. Oh, and shout-out to everyone who looked over the drafts of this first chapter for me!

Now, this is a College AU fanfic, which means no quirks and all that fancy stuff. Honestly, this is a way for me to demonstrate _why_ I ship Katsuyu. I think the biggest reason, which most Katsuyu shippers agree on, is that out of all the girls at U.A., Tsuyu's the best one who can handle Katsuki because we have a level-headed girl with a hot-headed guy, which end up balancing each other out (e.g., Tsuyu can help calm Katsuki down when he gets out of control). But, the biggest reason of all _to me_ as to _why_ I think this ship has such great chemistry is... Well, if you read this fanfic, you'll eventually figure it out, haha.

I'm hoping that maybe with my contribution, you, the reader, who may not be a Katsuyu shipper, will at least feel inclined to ship them or understand _why_ we Katsuyu shippers love this OTP so much. If, instead, you _are_ a Katsuyu shipper, then I hope this fanfic will make you fall in love with them even more.

Also, small warning: Katsuki has a foul mouth, so expect some coarse language.

With that said, enjoy!

* * *

 **Change of Heart**

Chapter 1: _A Coincidental Meeting_

When Katsuki Bakugo opened the door to his apartment and shut the door behind him, it took everything in him to resist the urge to collapse onto the floor. After slipping off his shoes and kicking them off near the door, he dragged his feet to the kitchen as he let out a large yawn, despite his growling stomach. He had been _starving_ for the past few hours, and just as he opened the fridge to grab something to eat, he glanced at the displayed time on the oven.

"4 A.M.?" Katsuki muttered before he scowled. "Shit."

If he didn't go to bed right now, he wouldn't be able to stay awake for his last final exam later today.

Katsuki contemplated on whether to eat or not, but once he saw the time turn to 4:01 A.M., he sighed in aggravation and shut the refrigerator.

Food could wait until later. He was exhausted, anyway.

"The things I _fucking_ sacrifice to earn more money," Katsuki grumbled as he headed to his room, which was further down the hall. After entering his room, he began taking off his clothes until he was only in his boxers and threw them into laundry wastebasket in the corner.

Finally, he allowed himself to collapse facedown onto his bed, which made him grunt upon the impact, so he readjusted his position to become comfortable.

It wasn't long before Katsuki fell asleep.

* * *

Every day, Katsuki went through the same routine: wake up, brush his teeth, make breakfast, and get dressed and ready for whatever his plans were for the day. If it was a weekday, he would get ready for his classes at the University of Tokyo; if it was a weekend, he'd spend the rest of the day studying and exercising.

Today was Monday, July 30, the last day of spring semester before summer break would start. Of course, summer break coming around the corner meant one thing: he had to find another part-time job.

Katsuki grimaced as he put on his clothes for the day. His current part-time job was at a 24/7 convenience store near his university where he worked the night shift, which was 10 P.M. to 3 A.M., on weekdays. He didn't hate his job, especially since it paid _extremely_ well for a part-time one. It was just that Katsuki always felt like he was tight on money, even though he grew to be frugal about the things he'd purchase and began budgeting his money since the start of freshman year, so whenever he had summer, spring, or winter break, he would go find another temporary part-time job for that duration while working at the convenience store.

There were times when his manager would ask him if he could come in for overtime for the weekend; unfortunately, he never had the luxury of choosing _which_ shifts to do overtime. Most of the time, he did the morning or afternoon shifts, but there were few occasions when he had the night shift instead, such as last night.

Normally, Katsuki would agree to doing overtime if he didn't have any upcoming exams. However, earlier this month, he had no choice _but_ to splurge… It was for a good reason, but _damn_ , did it hurt his wallet. That was why when his manager asked if he could work overtime, Katsuki accepted without hesitation, even though he had an upcoming final exam.

Honestly, the only thing Katsuki hated about working at the convenience store were the customers—or rather, his fellow students who were his customers, to be exact.

During the morning or afternoon shifts when he worked overtime at the convenience store, he wouldn't be disturbed as much. Most of the customers who would come in were mild-mannered: they'd buy stuff and then leave, which Katsuki preferred.

Of course, that meant that there were occasions where the customer would try to strike up a conversation, like "How's the weather today?" or "How are you?"

Katsuki would just give one-word responses, such as "Good" or "Fine." He rarely said anything more than that, unless the customer wanted to keep talking to him. At that point, he would say a few more words, just enough to be satisfy them, so they would at least leave in a good mood. It wasn't that he minded making small talk, but that he saw no point, so he typically tried to sound as neutral as possible since he didn't want to offend them. After all, the last thing he needed was to get fired from this part-time job, especially when it was so conveniently located near home and his university.

His regular weekday night shifts, on the other hand, were another story.

Usually, it'd be rather quiet since not a lot of customers came around that late unless they lived nearby, but compared to when he worked overtime, there were a lot more… _weirder_ incidents, to put it lightly. One example was last Thursday, July 26, when some guy was stalking one of his female classmates.

He only knew this because she seemed uneasy when he approached her about whether she was going to buy something or not since she had been loitering in the store for a while. When he had looked out the window and saw that some guy was loitering in the parking lot, he made the connection.

"Is he your ex?" Katsuki asked, shifting his gaze to her.

She shook her head, keeping her gaze glued to the floor.

"What is he, then?" Katsuki asked as he watched her inaudibly gulp, but when she made no response, he frowned. "Well?"

"Stalker," she finally whispered.

Katsuki watched how she trembled, practically hiding her face behind the magazine she had open, before he sighed. "Wait here."

She looked at him in confusion.

Without hesitation, Katsuki left the store and sauntered to the guy.

The guy's gaze was still on Katsuki's classmate, until he took notice of Katsuki nearing him.

When Katsuki was finally in front of the guy, his eyes narrowed when he recognized him as a fellow sophomore. He had seen him a few times on campus and occasionally with his male classmates. Katsuki also noticed that the guy was at least three inches taller than him.

The guy frowned at Katsuki. "What?"

"You're loitering," Katsuki replied. "Get the hell out."

The guy scoffed. "And? What are you going to do about it?"

"You're _loitering_ ," Katsuki repeated, his tone lowering. "Get the hell _out._ "

The guy scowled and scoffed again. "You want me to leave? Fine, I will, but only after my girlfriend buys stuff."

Katsuki glanced back at the store momentarily before shifting his gaze back at the guy. "'Girlfriend,' huh?"

The guy's scowl grew at Katsuki's tone. "The hell you trying to imply?"

"If she _is_ your girlfriend, why didn't you enter the store with her?"

The guy flinched. "S-She insisted that I wait here."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah!"

Katsuki continued to stare at this guy, knowing fully well that his scrutiny was making the guy uncomfortable. "It's 11 P.M. on a Thursday. Any sensible boyfriend would've walked into the store with his girlfriend to make sure that she's safe."

The guy flinched again. "It's none of your business!"

"No, it _is_ my business because you're _loitering_ in front of my _damn store_ ," Katsuki growled, his threatening tone finally appearing, and he inwardly relished at how the guy flinched in fear. "If anything, it seems more like you're _stalking_ my classmate."

The guy's jaw dropped. "I-I am _not_ a stalker!"

"You're obviously not her boyfriend, _and_ you're suspiciously loitering in front of my _damn store_ while staring at her."

At that point, the guy took a step back at Katsuki's accusations, and as Katsuki's scrutiny unnerved him even more, he began to break out in a cold sweat.

"I know who you are on campus," Katsuki bluffed, glaring at the guy. "I can easily call the authorities on you."

"L-Liar—"

"We go to the same damn university, and I see your face almost every single day. It won't be hard for me to track you down and report you for _stalking_ my classmate."

The guy began sputtering gibberish, most likely in disbelief at the situation, until finally, he aimed a punch at Katsuki.

Katsuki immediately stepped to the side, dodging the punch.

The guy's eyes widened. "W-What the—"

Katsuki crouched and punched the guy in the gut, just with enough strength to make the guy clutch his stomach and step backward while groaning.

The guy's head shot up, ready to send another punch.

"You try to punch me again, and I won't hold back," Katsuki snarled, his deadly tone seeping through his words and making the atmosphere seem colder than it already was.

The guy flinched, his eyes widening at Katsuki's glare and his legs shaking in fear.

"Now, get the hell out of my sight," Katsuki growled, narrowing his eyes and relishing how the guy jumped in fear when Katsuki took a step toward him. "If I see you near her again, even on campus, I'll report you to the police. _Got it?_ "

The guy nodded so quickly that it looked like he would've given himself whiplash. "I-I got it! I won't ever bother her again! I swear!"

Katsuki took another step.

The guy yelped in fear as he jumped backward, and at Katsuki's menacing death glare, he finally ran off as he screamed.

Katsuki let out a sigh of annoyance, his eyes finally turning to a nonchalant gaze, before he sauntered into the store. His eyes narrowed at the girl, whose jaw was completely dropped. "Next time, report him to the damn police."

She continued to stare him, completely dumbfounded.

Katsuki resisted the urge to groan. "Do you plan on buying anything?"

She finally snapped out of her stupor and brought a bottle of Pepsi to the cash register.

When Katsuki rang her up, he heard her mutter her thanks, but he only grunted in response as he handed her change.

Without another word, she bolted out of the store, and Katsuki was grateful that the store was finally quiet and uneventful.

Pushing the memory of last Thursday out of his mind, Katsuki headed to his apartment door after grabbing his bag and keys. After he left and locked the door, he realized that the apartment door to his left was open, and just in front of that open door were a bunch of boxes.

Katsuki figured it was a new neighbor moving in, so he shrugged it off and headed to school.

It wasn't like he wanted to make friends with any of his neighbors, anyway.

* * *

When Saturday came rolling around, Katsuki was grateful. He was now on break and didn't have to worry about school for a while. On one hand, it meant more sleep, but on the other hand, it also meant that he was tight on time because there were most likely other college students in the area who had already thought about doing a part-time job over break to earn some extra cash.

Katsuki felt like his window of opportunity was closing as every day passed, but here he was, standing behind the counter for the afternoon shift at the convenience store because he was asked to come in for overtime on Wednesday afternoon. He kept drumming the end of the store's ballpoint pen to some rhythmic beat to help pass the time.

For the past few days, Katsuki had gone through the newspaper and even looked online to check for any part-time job openings, but so far, he didn't have much luck. Most of the job openings he saw kept striking out because the locations were too far away or took too long to commute from his apartment or convenience store or because he was unqualified for the position.

Maybe he should consider nearby cafés or coffee shops. Surely, at least _one_ of them was looking to hire a part-timer. Becoming a waiter didn't sound as bad as becoming a barista, but knowing his attitude and temper, maybe he should just work behind the scenes and wash the dishes or something—not that he had the luxury to choose, anyway. He was willing to do whichever of the two that paid more.

Katsuki immediately stopped drumming the pen and placed it down onto the counter as he frowned, realizing that the stress of finding another job was getting to him.

In that moment, he remembered how grateful and ecstatic he was when he found out that he could attend the University of Tokyo with enough scholarships and financial aid that it would cover his education for the entire four years. The leftover money would then go to his bank account, which he would use for school supplies or emergency expenses, such as if he couldn't make rent for the month or needed money for food.

Still, he knew it wasn't enough for him to keep going like this. It had been almost a little over a year and a half since he started living independently, and going to school full-time while working a part-time job was, to put it bluntly, exhausting. If he could get some extra cash for the summer, even if it was just a small amount, it would help relieve the financial burden on his shoulders.

Just then, Katsuki heard the bell-like sound effect from the sliding doors and immediately greeted the customers with a nonchalant face. He noticed that it was a group of girls and that one of them was the girl from last Thursday—the same girl who had that stalker problem.

Her three friends were giggling and smiling as her head was cast downward with her face completely flushed red. They kept whispering to her as the entire group went down one of the aisles of the convenience store.

Katsuki resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he watched them in case they needed any assistance. His gaze remained nonchalant as the girl's friends kept giggling and nudging her. He raised an eyebrow when he saw how one of them was nodding her head in his direction. Once he saw that girl who had the stalker problem from last Thursday begin walking toward him, he regained a neutral expression.

When she finally approached him, she kept her head down and didn't say a word.

Katsuki frowned when he realized that she didn't have anything in her hands. "Did you need help finding anything?"

Her head immediately shot up, and she began frantically waving her hands. "N-No!"

Katsuki stared blankly at her in response.

"Wait, no, that's not what I meant!" She paused. "I mean, well, um…"

Katsuki slowly raised an eyebrow, and when he saw her turn her head to the side, he glanced at the back of the store and noticed her friends giving her the thumbs-up. He shifted his gaze back to her, resisting the urge to sigh in annoyance. "Is there something specific you're looking for?"

She immediately looked at Katsuki, suddenly taken aback. "E-Excuse me?"

"If you want chips, they're down on aisle 1," Katsuki replied in a nonchalant tone. "Pocky and Yan-Yan are further down that same aisle. If you want instant noodles, they're—"

"N-No, that's not it!"

Katsuki resisted the urge to frown. "Then, what is it you need?"

Again, she looked taken aback. "Um…"

Katsuki felt his patience wearing thin, but he resisted the urge to say anything.

She shyly looked down at the floor before she took a deep breath and looked up, meeting Katsuki's eyes again. "Hey, um, Bakugo."

Katsuki grunted in response.

"Um, thank you again for last Thursday."

Katsuki said nothing as he waited for her to continue.

"I-It meant a lot to me, you know, that you did that," she said softly as her cheeks became pink.

Again, Katsuki said nothing and continued to stare at her in response.

"So, um, I was… _wondering_ if…you were free tomorrow?"

Katsuki blinked as that bit of information slowly processed through his head. There was a slight pause as Katsuki pieced together what she was suggesting to him, which made him furrow his brow. "Why?"

"Um, well, um…" Her voice trailed off before she cleared her throat. "Maybe…we can hang out tomorrow? Y-You know, like grab coffee or, um, something." She paused for a second before immediately adding, "So, I can properly thank you, of course! I-It's not like a _date_ or anything." She then laughed nervously.

Katsuki stared at her for a few seconds in silence.

"Um, Bakugo?" she asked.

"No."

There was a short pause of silence.

"I-I'm sorry?" she asked, this time her tone on the verge of dejection.

"No, I won't go out with you," Katsuki replied in a nonchalant tone.

"O-Oh… Is it because you already have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"S-Someone you like, then?"

"No."

"Oh…"

Before she could ask any further questions, Katsuki immediately sighed, glancing momentarily at the girl's friends, who began looking concerned, and then shifting his gaze back to her. "Look, I'm just not interested in you that way. Simple."

"I…I see…"

Katsuki said nothing in response. When a few seconds of silence passed, he began to feel… _awkward_. He knew that he couldn't just kick her out since he was still _working_ , which meant that she was technically his customer, so the only thing he could do was wait.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you," she finally muttered.

Katsuki didn't even get a chance to reply because right after she said that, she ran out of the store, and within seconds, her friends ran out of the convenience store to chase after her.

When Katsuki was sure that they were long gone, he scrutinized his eyes, realizing that this was the weirdest, most unexpected thing he ever thought would occur to him when working overtime. After a few seconds passed, he couldn't help but scoff.

Honestly, he had more important things to think about than getting a girlfriend.

He had overheard a bunch of his male classmates about going to mixers to hook up with girls from either his university or another one. In fact, he had been invited a few times, but he always turned the invitations down because he just wasn't interested in hooking up with anyone—not after… _her_.

Katsuki's eyes darkened as he pushed his high school memories away—memories of _her_.

He clicked his tongue and glared down at the counter. "God damn it."

* * *

When Katsuki came back to his apartment later that day, he was annoyed. He had managed to push thoughts of _her_ out of his mind the second a customer entered the store, but on his way home, his mind became overwhelmed with the stress of finding another part-time job.

Once he finally arrived at his apartment room, he began fumbling for his keys in the front pocket of his khaki pants. Just as he managed to pull them out, the door next to his room—the one where his new neighbor supposedly moved into, in fact—opened. Katsuki couldn't help but glance in that direction briefly since it caught his attention, but he quickly shrugged it off since he didn't want to interact with anyone.

"Bakugo? Is that you?"

Katsuki blinked in confusion before he turned his head in the direction of the familiar voice, and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

There, standing right in front of the open door, was none other than Tsuyu Asui, who wore a simple white t-shirt, black track pants, and dark green Champion sneakers and held a green reusable grocery tote bag.

Tsuyu blinked a few times. "Do you not recognize me?"

"No, I do," Katsuki replied curtly as he watched her close and lock the door to her apartment room.

Upon seeing Katsuki's regular frown, she raised an eyebrow. "I see that you're still as grumpy as ever."

Katsuki sent a small glare.

Tsuyu nodded in confirmation. "Yup, still grumpy and angry as ever."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, but he decided to shrug it off. He felt like he had a long day after thinking about _her_ , and he didn't want to waste his energy like this. Right now, he needed as much energy as possible for job hunting.

Tsuyu eyed Katsuki's white button-up shirt and beige khaki pants.

"What?" Katsuki asked, frowning when he realized that she was giving him a once-over.

"Did you just come from work?"

Katsuki grunted in response.

"I see."

When there was a momentary pause, almost as if Tsuyu was waiting for him to respond, Katsuki sighed in defeat. "I didn't expect _you_ to be my neighbor."

"Likewise. Strange how we haven't encountered each other until now, huh?"

"Not really," Katsuki grumbled. Ever since his last final on Monday, he had been catching up on sleep. If it wasn't that, then it was either working, job hunting, or exercising. Plus, he rarely interacted with his neighbors.

Tsuyu hummed in response, almost contemplating on Katsuki's answer.

Katsuki frowned. "What is it?"

"Well, I remember hearing that you'd be going to the University of Tokyo. Is that true?"

Katsuki nodded, wondering for a moment if she purposely changed the topic. "And you?"

"Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology."

Katsuki nodded again in response, this time staying silent.

Of all the people in the world, he _really_ didn't expect to see his high school classmate to be here, much less as his next-door neighbor. He was never close to Tsuyu back in high school: they were just acquaintances who were in the same circle of friends and only interacted with each other when their mutual friends were in the picture.

Honestly, Katsuki didn't know what else to say right now.

"Well, I have to run off to get groceries," Tsuyu said, holding up her grocery bag. "Maybe after I get back, we can catch up?"

Katsuki debated on how to respond. Did he _really_ want to catch up with her? It wasn't like they were friends to begin with, anyway.

"You don't have to force yourself to say yes, you know."

Katsuki blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I'm saying that we don't need to catch up if you don't want to," Tsuyu replied, slightly tilting her head. "It was just a suggestion since we haven't seen each other for, what, a year and a half now?"

Katsuki frowned in response, unconsciously shifting his gaze to his door as he continued to contemplate.

Had it really been that long since he interacted with _anyone_ from his high school days?

Granted, Katsuki used LINE to keep in contact with Izuku and Eijiro, but he hadn't hung out with either of them in person for a consistent amount of time. Eijiro and Izuku also went to the University of Tokyo, but Eijiro was busy with his studies and took different classes at different times, while Izuku had been studying abroad in the U.S. for the first semester of sophomore year and just came home back in mid-June.

Katsuki's frown deepened when he remembered that _she_ went with Izuku as well and came back at the same time.

Izuku had said that due to the differing start dates of academic calendars from both countries and the requirements of the study abroad program at the university he applied to, it was easier to just study abroad for one quarter there than an academic year. Plus, he had confessed to Katsuki that he would've felt homesick and worried about his mother if he had stayed any longer than that.

Since Izuku had returned home in June, it meant that he could celebrate his twentieth birthday with his friends and family on July 15. He had invited Katsuki to his birthday celebration, which was hosted in the early afternoon, but Katsuki couldn't bring himself to attend because he knew that _she_ would be there.

Instead, Katsuki showed up later in the evening when the party was over, gave Izuku his birthday gift—the very reason _why_ he had splurged earlier this month, actually—and spent time with Izuku and his mother. One of the things Izuku had told Katsuki that evening when they were catching up with each other was that he'd be back at the University of Tokyo next semester.

Now that Katsuki thought about it, he never really hung out with anyone, even during his summer, spring, and winter breaks because he was just so _busy_.

"Well, if you ever want to catch up, let me know," Tsuyu said, interrupting Katsuki's train of thought, before she walked right past him.

Katsuki did nothing to stop her. Instead, he entered his apartment room, and after closing and locking the door, he unconsciously let out a small sigh.

He felt the stress of finding another part-time job come back again, and when thoughts of _her_ started invading his mind, he couldn't help but scoff and scowl, his eyes darkening with every passing second as he stood still.

Maybe he should've taken up on Tsuyu's offer, after all.


	2. A Surprising Revelation

**Disclaimer:** I don't own **_My Hero Academia_** and any of its characters used in this fanfic.

 **A/N:** Hi, everyone! First off, thank you all for the overwhelming positive reviews and comments, and if you didn't review or comment, then I thank you for reading! It means a lot to me to know that there are lots of other Katsuyu shippers who believe in this ship as much as I do (or that I've at least interested people enough to read the fanfic and consider/understand the Katsuyu dynamic).

This chapter took longer to get out than I had intended because when I first envisioned this fanfic, I was going to have it go down a route that involved a _lot_ more drama, but instead, it took a completely different route while writing, probably because I kept unconsciously thinking about the angst and hurt/comfort. I liked this new route it took, though, and I'll be sticking with it from now on! But, it meant I had to go back and adjust a lot of things and triple-check that everything was perfect before posting, so there wouldn't be any new plot holes due to the changes. (And boy, that took a _while_ to fix.)

Also, small heads-up in case none of you knew already: Katsuyu Week 2018 is starting this Saturday, August 25 to Friday, August 31! Look up details about it on its tumblr, which is called **katsuyuweek** , to see all the prompts for Katsuyu Week 2018.

With all that said, enjoy!

* * *

 **Change of Heart**

Chapter 2: _A Surprising Revelation_ _  
_

The next day, even though it was _Sunday_ , Katsuki woke up early out of habit. When he looked at his phone's clock, he saw that it was 8:00 A.M., which made him scowl. Then again, he had fallen asleep shortly after that conversation with Tsuyu last night because he was exhausted. He debated on going back to bed, but when his stomach growled, he groaned in defeat and went through his typical morning routine of getting up and dressed, brushing his teeth, and preparing breakfast.

When he went to his fridge and opened it to see what he had, however, he realized it was practically empty. No meat, vegetables, or even leftovers he had made from the past week.

Katsuki resisted the urge to groan. It was 8:30 A.M… He did _not_ want to go grocery shopping before eating at least _something_. Katsuki bent down and opened the drawer in the fridge, hoping that there were some eggs left for him.

Unfortunately, there was nothing inside the drawer, which made him groan.

"Fucking shit," Katsuki growled before he closed the drawer, stood back up, and slammed the fridge shut.

Without another word, he got dressed into a casual white t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts and grabbed two large grocery tote bags, his keys, wallet, coupons, and cell phone from his room. Once he put on his sneakers, his stomach growled, and he glared at the door.

If only he had the luxury to eat out…

Katsuki sighed, ignoring his growling stomach, and left his apartment room. Just as soon as he closed the door, he was surprised to see that Tsuyu was outside of her apartment room as well.

"Good morning," Tsuyu greeted after she locked her door.

Katsuki nodded before he locked the door to his room. He was going to open his mouth to say something else, like maybe ask her why the hell she was up so early on a Sunday morning, but when he turned his head, she was already walking toward the elevators.

Katsuki frowned and went to the elevators as well. Just as soon as he was right behind Tsuyu, the elevator doors opened, and they both entered.

Words weren't exchanged between the two as they stood on different sides of the elevator. The elevator ride was quiet, which Katsuki didn't mind—at least, until his stomach growled again.

Katsuki resisted the urge to flinch and hoped to God that Tsuyu didn't hear. When he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, however, she didn't even look in his direction. He felt his posture relax when he realized that maybe she hadn't noticed, after all.

When the doors finally opened, Tsuyu was the first to step out, and Katsuki followed.

The two didn't exchange any sort of looks, glances, or words, even after they both left the apartment building and went in the opposite direction.

Honestly, if their mornings were going to be spent like this, then Katsuki didn't mind having her as his neighbor.

* * *

Grocery shopping took Katsuki longer than he originally thought. Then again, he hadn't gone shopping for food in a while since he had been so preoccupied with one thing after another.

He bought enough food that should last him for a while. He had debated on buying cup ramen, just as emergency food in case he suddenly ran out of food again, but since he didn't have a car, the commute would've been a lot more difficult for him to carry two large grocery tote bags _and_ boxes of cup ramen, so he decided not to buy it. Instead, he made a mental note to himself to go back next week to buy those boxes.

After what seemed like a long commute, he arrived at his apartment room. Just as he dug into his pockets for his keys, he heard someone call his last name from down the hall, and he instinctively turned his head.

Walking towards him was none other than Tsuyu Asui.

"Good morning again," Tsuyu greeted when she stood before him.

Katsuki grunted in response. Within seconds, though, his stomach growled, and he hoped that Tsuyu didn't hear. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten breakfast _or_ lunch…

"You still haven't eaten?" Tsuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Katsuki furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Breakfast, of course. It's already past 11. I thought you would've eaten something by now."

Katsuki inwardly cursed, realizing that she _did_ hear his stomach growl this morning in the elevator. Well, at least she didn't make a comment about it at the time… Finally, Katsuki let out a small sigh. "I haven't eaten anything."

"At all?"

Katsuki grunted in response.

Tsuyu looked taken aback before she fell silent.

There was a long pause, and Katsuki contemplated on ending the conversation, so he could enter his apartment and eat already.

"Well, I won't keep you waiting any longer, then," Tsuyu suddenly said as she walked away from him.

Katsuki's eyes were on her as she went to her apartment room. He stayed silent as he watched her quickly unlock her apartment door, and he resisted the urge to outwardly flinch when she suddenly looked at him.

"See you later," Tsuyu said with a small wave. Without waiting for Katsuki's reply, she entered her apartment room.

Katsuki did the same with his without hesitation. He hurriedly kicked off his shoes near the door and ran to the refrigerator with the grocery bags in hand. As he opened the refrigerator, there was a small part of him that wondered if he should've said _something_ because she did ask him if they could catch up with each other.

He dismissed those thoughts from his mind as he began putting food away.

"Focus, Katsuki," he muttered out loud. "After eating, you got job hunting to do."

And that was exactly what he did. Unfortunately, just like yesterday, he was out of luck. At the rate that he was going, he wasn't going to find another part-time job at all.

Katsuki let out a frustrated sigh before he glanced at the time. "Shit."

It was time to go jogging.

Immediately, he went to go change into his black muscle tank and dark red athletic shorts. His smartphone was hooked to a sports armband that he attached onto his left bicep, and his water bottle, earphones, and other necessities were in his waist pouch. After slipping on his running sneakers, he spun his keys around on his finger as he left the apartment room.

After he locked the door, he unconsciously glanced over at Tsuyu's room. He stared briefly, waiting for any motion of her leaving, but when there was none, he turned to leave.

Just then, however, Katsuki saw Tsuyu's doorknob turn, so he briskly walked toward the elevator doors. He didn't want to make eye contact with her, and if anything, he hoped that she didn't see him standing there.

He was thankful that the elevator doors opened as soon as he pressed the button and that Tsuyu was nowhere near him. After he entered the elevator, he couldn't help but glance at Tsuyu from down the hall. From what he saw, it looked like she was double-checking that she had everything in her bag before locking her door.

He forced himself to look away as he pushed the button to the apartment's lobby floor. Normally, he wouldn't pay attention to his neighbors, but maybe it was because Tsuyu was his high school classmate that he couldn't help it. Everyone else in the building was a stranger to him, so seeing a familiar face daily now, at the very place he called home, felt… _unusual_ —and this face was someone that he knew from high school and a close friend of _hers_ , to boot.

As the elevator doors closed, Katsuki purposely stared at the floor number the elevator was on. His gaze just had to be anywhere away from Tsuyu.

After all, the last thing he needed was someone close to _her_ interfering with his life.

* * *

A week had passed since then. He and Tsuyu rarely interacted, just like back in high school. For the past week, all they did—or rather, all Tsuyu did since Katsuki always grunted or nodded in response—was greet each other whenever they saw the other person before returning to their daily routine. She never even brought up the topic of catching up with him, which he was thankful for. He had thought about her offer every time he saw her, but he kept brushing it off because he needed to find another part-time job.

Katsuki _still_ had no luck with finding anything around the neighborhood. For the past week, he had gone into shops near his apartment and university to see if they were looking for any part-timers. Unfortunately, every manager at the shop had told him that they weren't looking for any, which only added further to his growing frustration.

Unfortunately, since he only had five weeks left of summer break now, he had no choice but to give up. If he tried to find any part-time job now, it wouldn't look good to any employer if he left just after a month. At least he told his manager last Friday that he'd be willing to work overtime on the weekends for the rest of his summer break, so that alleviated his stress.

Plus, his daily jogging helped keep things off his mind. Katsuki's normal jogging route was pretty much around the neighborhood. Most of the time, he took the scenic route because there were less people, which meant less annoyances and he could relax.

Katsuki had just finished his jogging and was currently wiping his face and neck from the accumulated sweat from jogging and being under the heat of the evening sun. He was on his way back, casually drinking from his water bottle with his towel around his neck when he passed by a restaurant and glanced into it briefly before turning his attention back to the streets.

He immediately stopped drinking and ran back to look through the large window of the restaurant again, his eyes narrowing when he saw a petite girl with her long hair tied into a bow.

Standing at a great distance away from the window and taking orders from customers was none other than Tsuyu. She wore a waitress uniform: a black skirt, white short-sleeved blouse, and a cream-colored apron. Although she had on simple black flats, she adorned thigh-high black socks, almost as if to elongate her legs and draw attention to the amount of skin her legs showed.

Katsuki stared at the way Tsuyu tucked those hair strands behind her ear as she recited the order to the customer. Even from such a distance, he could tell how warm and inviting her eyes were as she smiled politely.

Without another thought, he walked away and continued heading home.

* * *

Later that night, Katsuki just finished dinner and was taking a break from online job hunting. His portable Bluetooth speaker, which was connected to his smartphone, was quietly playing music in the background.

He contemplated on turning in for the night when he saw that it was 9 P.M. until he heard the doorbell ring. He frowned, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he sauntered to the door. When he looked through the peephole, however, his eyes widened in surprise before he opened the door and frowned at his visitor.

"Nice to see you, too," Tsuyu greeted in a dry tone.

"What do you want?" Katsuki asked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"May I come in?" Tsuyu asked instead, tilting her head.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes to mask his hesitation, especially since it was a _girl_ coming into his apartment room and not some guy, like Izuku or Eijiro.

"I'd rather not talk about what I have to say out in the open," Tsuyu added. "I won't stay for long."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow at her in response, waiting for her to continue, but when she didn't, he sighed in defeat. "Fine, come on in."

"Thanks," Tsuyu replied as she entered. However, she stood in the area near the doorway, not bothering to take off her shoes.

Katsuki frowned, not understanding what the hell was going on, but he closed and locked the door nonetheless. He turned around to face her, and in that moment, he was reminded of how much he towered over her petite figure.

"Were you near a café today, by any chance?" Tsuyu asked.

"No," Katsuki lied, and he momentarily wondered if he answered too quickly or curtly, which would've made his lie evident.

"Strange. I'm pretty sure I saw you there."

Katsuki resisted the urge to scowl, inwardly cursing at the fact that she _did_ see him. "I wasn't there, _Froggy_." He paused when he saw Tsuyu frown at his old nickname for her. "Simple as that."

There was a long pause as the two stared at each other. As every second passed, Katsuki grew uncomfortable under Tsuyu's gaze. There was always something about her gaze whenever she looked at him, even back in high school, that made him feel… _visible_ , as if she could always see through to him and his reactions, even though they weren't close friends. Honestly, he thought that it was a frightening trait of hers and hoped that she hadn't managed to see through his lie.

"I see," Tsuyu said, breaking the silence before she sighed. "Well, in that case, I'll be heading off now."

Katsuki's eyes narrowed before he blocked Tsuyu's pathway to the door. "You don't just walk into a guy's apartment room to ask him if he was at your workplace."

"How did you know that I work there?" Tsuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Katsuki inwardly cursed at his slip-up. "You implied it."

"No, I didn't. Besides, I said _a_ café. Wouldn't someone who hasn't visited _ask_ for clarification?"

Katsuki scowled, and after a small moment of silence passed, he finally grumbled, "Yeah, fine, I happened to drop by where you work." He sighed in irritation. "Look, I just passed by it on my way home after jogging. Simple as that. Is that so wrong?"

"No, it's not wrong," Tsuyu replied. "I know that you happened to pass by. That spiky blond hair of yours is hard to miss."

Katsuki's scowl grew, but he remained silent.

"But, that's not why I'm here."

Katsuki furrowed his brow. "Then, what?"

"If you can, avoid taking that route tomorrow." Tsuyu paused. "Well, from now on might be for the best."

"Why?"

Tsuyu hesitated, her eyes slowly shifting to the floor as a long pause ensued.

"Whatever it is you're talking about, spit it out already," Katsuki said, narrowing his eyes. "I don't have all night, you know."

When Tsuyu's gaze flickered to Katsuki's face, she sighed in defeat. "It's about Ochaco."

Katsuki's eyes widened, and in that moment, he felt everything in his heart sink. He felt his brain shut off, and breathing suddenly felt nonexistent to him. Just hearing that name— _her_ name, for that matter—brought the daily heartache he dealt with back in high school.

Her smile, her laugh—she had this energy that made every guy smile and swoon at her feet, every girl wanting to be friends with her because she was so energetic, so happy, so full of life, so… _unlike_ him. Everything about her felt contagious, and even he himself couldn't help but be caught in the tornado of Ochaco Uraraka.

His eyes glazed over as he recalled distant memories of him pining after Ochaco, but always being jealous, always _angry_ over the fact that she never saw him that way—that she would only talk to him when _Izuku_ was involved. Every day, seeing the two together within such proximity of each other reminded him that he could never come between the two—never break the bond they had, in fact, because what they had was something _indescribable_ and so much more than just pure infatuation, compared to most of the guys who pined after Ochaco.

And worst of all, it hurt him knowing that he could never have that same bond with her.

"Even after all this time, you still like her, huh?" Tsuyu muttered.

Katsuki blinked, suddenly brought back to reality when he heard Tsuyu's voice. "What? You _knew?_ "

"You had this…look in your eyes whenever you saw her," Tsuyu replied, her eyes shifting to the floor momentarily, and she sighed before looking back at him. "It wasn't hard to piece it together."

Katsuki stared at her for a few seconds before he scowled.

He tried so hard, so _very_ hard to hide his feelings for Ochaco when Izuku was in the picture. If Izuku ever knew, he wouldn't dare continue liking Ochaco and probably do his best to keep a polite distance away from her, no matter how much it hurt him. Katsuki knew how selfish he could be, but he wasn't going to let his selfishness get in the way of Izuku's one chance of happiness. The only person who ever found out about Katsuki's feelings for Ochaco was Eijiro.

But to think that even _Tsuyu_ knew about his feelings for Ochaco… A part of him wondered if anyone else in their class knew. And if that were the case…wouldn't that mean that Izuku might've known as well?

Katsuki shut his eyes, not daring to continue his thoughts. He had to stop them before they got worse in his head. Finally, he opened his eyes and grumbled, "You…You need to stop doing that."

Tsuyu tilted her head. "Doing what?"

"Being observant. It's scary as hell when you…you…" Katsuki couldn't bring himself to continue, so he sighed.

"When I what, Bakugo?"

Katsuki inaudibly gulped. He didn't want to say that it was frightening to think that this petite level-headed woman was always able to see through him, no matter what he did. He didn't like how uncomfortable it made him feel, how her gaze made him just feel too… _visible._ He wanted her to just _stop_.

"Bakugo?"

Katsuki knew he had to respond and change the subject somehow, but how could he now that he knew that Ochaco was in the picture? His mind felt like a mess, his heart felt like it was in shambles, and it took everything in him to just not shut down emotionally.

"Bakugo, the reason why I brought her up is because she's dropping by the café I work at tomorrow," Tsuyu muttered, just loudly enough for Katsuki to hear in the dead silence of his apartment.

Katsuki inaudibly gulped, trying to ignore the fact that he felt his body become cold as more images of Ochaco popped into his head. He finally closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, furrowing his brow. "Why?"

Tsuyu tilted her head in response.

"Why are you telling me this?" Katsuki asked, this time opening his eyes to look at her.

"Because I know how much you like her."

Katsuki flinched.

"And I know that your heart must've been breaking a lot whenever Midoriya was in the picture with Ochaco."

Katsuki glanced away, just _anywhere_ away from Tsuyu's gaze. "That doesn't explain why the hell you're telling me this."

"Because you're my friend, and I care."

Katsuki's eyes widened, and he looked back at Tsuyu. "What?"

"You're my friend, and I care about you, Bakugo."

Katsuki blinked in confusion before he furrowed his brow. "I…I don't understand."

"What do you mean?"

"We _rarely_ talked to each other in high school. Hell, we barely even hung out. How can you call me your friend when we don't know anything about each other?"

Tsuyu frowned before she let out a small sigh and moved past Katsuki. When her hand was on the doorknob, she finally turned to look at him and gave him a small rueful smile. "Maybe you never thought of me as a friend, but I always saw you as one."

Katsuki was so stunned at her statement that as he watched her walk out the door, he momentarily forgot about his heartbreak.


	3. Understanding Each Other

**Disclaimer:** I don't own **_My Hero Academia_** and any of its characters used in this fanfic.

 **A/N:** Thank you to all my reviewers and silent readers and for all the follows and favorites so far! I really appreciate every review, view, follow, and/or favorite each of you leave behind.

Also, I was _not_ expecting this fanfic to garner so much traffic. I knew Katsuyu was loved, but I was actually expecting just a small number of views because (1) to my knowledge, only a small percentage of people in the _My Hero Academia_ fandom ship Katsuyu, (2) I'm not that much involved with writing in the _My Hero Academia_ fandom, and (3) my updates are sporadic. So, imagine my surprise when I find out that _wow_ , it's been viewed a _lot_ more than I expected! Honestly, this makes me happy because that means the Katsuyu fanbase is bigger than I originally thought! (Either that, or I'm already converting people to ship Katsuyu, haha.)

Anyway, this chapter's a little longer than the other ones so far because of the interactions between Katsuki and Tsuyu. I found myself continually adding more and more, especially since this chapter is, in my opinion, one of the biggest turning points in Katsuki and Tsuyu's relationship.

With all that said, enjoy!

* * *

 **Change of Heart**

Chapter 3: _Understanding Each Other_

That night, Katsuki had difficulty sleeping because Tsuyu's face when she spoke those words—her _tone_ when she confessed that she had always thought of him as…as a _friend_ , when he rarely interacted with her—just kept popping into his head. None of it logically made sense because he never saw her as a friend. They were just…acquaintances who had mutual friends, and they didn't know anything about each other.

He didn't know her birthday, the things she liked or disliked, what her hobbies were, the things that made her smile or light up on a terrible day, anything about her past or anything personal—hell, he just didn't know _anything_ , so how in the _world_ could she perceive him to be her _friend?_

God, the more he thought about that facial expression she gave, the guiltier he felt. It just kept stirring up inside and giving him that stupid queasy, uneasy feeling in his gut.

Unsurprisingly, Katsuki barely had any sleep that night, so when he left for the morning and saw Tsuyu's door open, he inwardly panicked and hastily tried to lock his door, but failed to because he ultimately dropped his keys in the process.

"Shit," Katsuki grumbled before he bent down to pick it up. He glanced out of the corner of his eye as he stood back up, but he was surprised to see that Tsuyu had already finished locking her door. He tried to resist whirling his head to look at her because dear God, he felt so awkward about everything that happened last night, but the second he saw her walk past him without saying _anything_ —no greeting, no smile, absolutely _nothing_ —he immediately turned his head to look at her.

He was stunned, to say the least.

As he watched her continue to walk away, heading to the elevator, he felt his guilt increase further, and yet, he couldn't bring himself to say anything. As soon as she entered the elevator, he turned his head back, acting as if he hadn't been staring after her this entire time, and proceeded to lock his apartment door.

When he heard the elevator doors close, he let out a small sigh as he furrowed his brow.

They weren't friends. He made that clear last night.

So, why the hell wouldn't the guilt in him just _go away?_

* * *

For the rest of that week, Katsuki had a hard time meeting Tsuyu's gaze or even being around her presence, but she made it easy for him: she always ignored him and never once acknowledged him, not even when they both left or came home at the same time. He had, however, heeded Tsuyu's words to avoid taking that route near the café she worked at when heading home. After all, the last thing he needed right now was seeing Ochaco, who would undoubtedly make him become an even worse of a mess than he currently was.

And now, here he was, on a Saturday night, standing outside Tsuyu's apartment door at 10 P.M., hesitating to ring the doorbell because for all he knew, she was already asleep, or at least, that's what he kept telling himself, so he could just leave and forget about doing this.

But, he knew that he had to settle this, whether he liked it or not, so without another moment of hesitation, he rang the doorbell and proceeded to wait. Once a minute of silence passed, he realized that perhaps Tsuyu didn't even want to _talk_ with him after she saw it was him through the peephole.

That thought immediately disappeared when he saw the door swing open, however, and there stood Tsuyu, who gave him a blank, but almost tired stare.

Katsuki couldn't help but take in her appearance. Compared to him, who was wearing a white t-shirt, gray sweatpants, white socks, and black sneakers because he wanted to look at least _somewhat_ presentable, she had her long hair tied into a bun and adorned a form-fitting dark green tank top and beige shorts that revealed almost entirely her thighs and, if anything, accentuated her petite curves.

Upon realizing that she was presenting a _lot_ more skin than he was accustomed to seeing, he immediately cleared his throat, reminding himself to just _stop stalling already_ , and quickly brought up his gaze to meet her eyes.

"Hey," he muttered lamely, and he resisted the urge to facepalm at how idiotic and passive he sounded just now, so immediately, he furrowed his brow and let out a small sigh. "Uh, I was wondering if we could…talk?"

Tsuyu continued to stare at him in response.

"You know, catch up since it's…been a while," Katsuki added, inwardly hoping that maybe Tsuyu bought his excuse and that Tsuyu's offer on catching up really hadn't expired yet.

Tsuyu said nothing for a few seconds before she finally sighed in defeat. "Come in."

Katsuki's eyes widened. "What?"

"I said to come in," Tsuyu replied, now stepping aside to allow Katsuki to enter.

Katsuki hesitated to enter because he was entering a girl's apartment _alone_ , so he narrowed his eyes in conflict.

"Unless you'd rather talk out here in the open where others can hear us?" Tsuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Katsuki grunted in response, knowing fully well that she had a point, so he entered her apartment without hesitation. He tried to say something to her when she locked the door behind him, but he closed his mouth once she walked past him.

She paused in the hallway and looked back before gesturing to Katsuki. "Well? Come on."

Katsuki hesitated, but when he saw Tsuyu still waiting for him, he sighed in defeat and followed.

When they arrived in the living room, Tsuyu turned around, therefore stopping Katsuki in his tracks, and nodded her head toward her couch. "Feel free to take a seat, if you'd like. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine," Katsuki replied before he followed her to the couch. Katsuki stayed silent, trying his best to figure out what the hell to even _say_ as he sat down on one end of the couch while Tsuyu sat on the opposite end. Katsuki cleared his throat, just to grab her attention and give him extra time to _think_ , and he turned his head to look at her. "So…"

Tsuyu turned her body to look at him and tilted her head. "Yes, Bakugo?"

Katsuki also turned his body, just so he could face her naturally, and he hesitated to continue, or rather, he didn't know _how_ to continue. Where should he start? What should he _say?_ Finally, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes as he furrowed his brow in frustration. "It's about last week." Katsuki paused before adding softly, "You know, about that…incident in my apartment."

"About you not seeing me as a friend?" Tsuyu asked.

Katsuki resisted the urge to cringe as he felt his guilt begin to rise, but he managed to quickly push it down, so he could continue to speak in a coherent manner. "Yeah." Katsuki felt the air between the two almost thicken when she didn't respond, so he pursed his lips and added, "I…didn't realize that you saw me as a friend this entire time."

A long moment of silence ensued, and as every second passed, Katsuki hoped that she would've said _something_ , at least, to lessen the tension in the air. Finally, he heard her sigh, so he brought his gaze to her.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised that you don't consider me as a friend," Tsuyu said. "I mean, you had a point that we barely hung out with each other. But, just because you didn't consider _me_ as a friend doesn't mean that I never considered _you_ as my friend." Tsuyu paused, this time lowering and almost softening her tone. "I always thought of you as my friend—from the very start, in fact."

Katsuki inaudibly gulped, suddenly feeling parched. "Why?"

Tsuyu shrugged. "You were friends with Midoriya and Kirishima. In my mind, because you were friends with them, that made you my friend as well."

Katsuki stayed silent, not knowing what to say or how to respond.

"Well, that wasn't the only reason," Tsuyu added.

At this, Katsuki couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in confusion at her, especially when he saw that faraway look on her face. "What was the other reason?"

Finally, she gave him a rueful smile, almost out of empathy this time, compared to last week. "Let's just say that I know how you feel." Tsuyu paused. "You know, about liking someone who…actually likes your best friend."

Katsuki's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but mutter, "What?"

Tsuyu smiled sheepishly. "Um, yeah…"

Katsuki frowned, pausing for a moment, before he asked, "Do I know them?"

Tsuyu let out a small giggle and gave him a smile. "Now, now, Bakugo, do you _really_ think I'd tell you?"

"I think it's only fair, considering you knew that I liked _her_ ," Katsuki deadpanned.

"You mean _like_ ," Tsuyu corrected, raising an eyebrow.

"No, _liked_ ," Katsuki retorted, this time narrowing his eyes at her.

Tsuyu stared at Katsuki, unfazed by his glare, and stayed silent, waiting for Katsuki to continue.

"I'm just…trying to move on," Katsuki added after sighing, but he could tell that his tone became bitter, so he glanced away again. "That's all."

"And do you think you're close to fully moving on?"

"I don't know," Katsuki grumbled. "Have _you?_ "

When a moment of silence ensued, Katsuki realized what slipped out of his mouth, and he was about to open his mouth and apologize because _damn it,_ he was trying to make peace with her, _not_ screw it up again, but instead, he closed it when he turned his head and saw that Tsuyu gave him a peaceful smile.

"I moved on a long time ago, Bakugo," Tsuyu replied. "So, yes. Yes, I have. But, I know everyone moves on in their own way, and…at the very least, I want you to move on in a healthy way, so your bitterness won't eat you up."

"Too late for that," Katsuki grumbled under his breath, not even realizing that slipped out of his mouth until he heard Tsuyu sigh.

"Well, anyway, how have you been?"

Katsuki frowned, but he was thankful for the change in subject. "You want my honest answer?"

Tsuyu shrugged. "That's up to you, Bakugo."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at her when he realized that she made a snarky comment, especially since the growing smile on her face only confirmed it, but he decided to brush it off by sighing. "Honestly? Kind of stressful."

"Why?"

The tone that Katsuki heard somewhat gave him goosebumps, and he didn't know how. She was sitting on the other end of the couch, but somehow, some way, her concern for him seeped through, despite the calm look on her face, and in her quiet apartment, that one word seemed to affect Katsuki a lot more than he thought it would.

Katsuki resisted the urge to clear his throat, trying his best to ignore the goosebumps, so instead, he gulped inaudibly. "Couldn't find a job."

"I thought you had one?"

"I do. But, that's part-time. I was trying to find another one for extra expenses and everything." Katsuki paused before he felt the stress of job hunting come back down on his shoulders. This past week, he had been so guilty and eaten up over what transpired between him and Tsuyu that he stupidly forgot about job hunting, so he sighed. "I had been looking for one since summer break started, but it was hard to find anything that was within a close distance from home and reasonable. Eventually, I just went, 'Fuck it,' and told my manager I'd be willing to do overtime shifts whenever needed during the summer."

There was a long pause until finally, Tsuyu asked, "Would you be interested in working as a server?"

Katsuki blinked before his eyes widened. "What? Where?"

"At the café that I work at."

Katsuki furrowed his brow. "Is your place even _hiring?_ "

"Well, no, not right now, but I can try to convince the manager to take you on board."

Katsuki frowned. "Look, Asui, as much as I appreciate the offer, I doubt your manager would be willing to take on another employee if they already have enough people. Besides, I already have a part-time job dealing with people that's _somewhat_ related to customer service. I'd rather not have another one that instead deals with _serving_ people."

Tsuyu hummed for a few seconds before she nodded. "Good point. That temper of yours might get you fired on your first day."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at her comment, but when Tsuyu giggled in response, he let out a small growl before he scowled. "You seem awfully happy tonight."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're smiling and laughing a lot more than usual." Katsuki paused. "Well, considering how you ignored my presence for almost a week…"

"Well, _you_ made it clear that you didn't see me as your friend, so I didn't see a point in interacting with you."

Katsuki resisted the urge to flinch as he glanced away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

Now that he thought about it, he said her last name just now, didn't he? For as long as he remembered, Tsuyu would always correct people to call her by her first name or "Tsu," a nickname that only close friends could call her. So, if she didn't correct him just now, that meant that…they weren't friends, right?

Katsuki didn't know why, but he felt his heart drop a bit.

"Is that all?" Tsuyu asked, breaking Katsuki out of his train of thought.

Katsuki blinked. "Uh, what?"

"I meant, is that all you've been up to?"

Katsuki relaxed, allowing his shoulders to relax a bit as he leaned back. "Oh, that's what you meant… Yeah, pretty much."

"What did you think I meant?"

Katsuki snorted. "I thought for a second that you were trying to kick me out."

"Well, it _is_ 10:30 P.M. now, and we should both be asleep to get ready for the day tomorrow," Tsuyu pointed out, raising an eyebrow, but it didn't hide the small smile on her face.

Katsuki stared at the small smile Tsuyu gave for a few seconds before he frowned. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how have _you_ been?" Katsuki asked before he paused. "Now that I think about it, why did you move here?"

"Wow, Bakugo, you're sure talkative this late at night."

"Just shut up and answer the question."

Tsuyu giggled softly in response.

Katsuki tried to not let Tsuyu's giggles embed themselves into his head. Maybe it was because it was so late, the apartment was so quiet, and the two of them were both tired that it was easy for him to just stare at her figure, at her happy face that lit up when she smiled and laughed, or how much her skin her clothes revealed on this hot summer night.

He just didn't know what it was, but he wished she would cease those stupid smiles and giggles of hers. Why couldn't she just go back to being calm and making snarky comments?

"Well, I really wanted to stay with my parents and siblings, but…" Tsuyu's face dropped a bit. "Commuting to and from home got difficult sometimes."

"Long commutes?" Katsuki asked.

Tsuyu nodded. "My parents would need me for things here and there, and if it weren't them, my siblings would need me, so it got a bit too hectic for me to stay at home." Tsuyu paused. "I handled it, but there were times when it just got…extremely overwhelming for me. One day, it got really bad, and…that was when my parents finally noticed how difficult things have been for me."

There was a long pause this time, and Katsuki noticed how Tsuyu shifted her position to a ball, almost reflecting the anxiety etched on her face, but he said nothing and waited for her to continue.

"They started asking less of me and told me to focus on my studies, but that made me feel terrible, you know? I'm their eldest daughter, and if they need my help, they shouldn't hesitate to ask. So, one day, they called me down and told me that they rented out an apartment for me to live in, just so I can live closer to school and not worry about what's going on at home."

Again, there was a small pause, and Katsuki could've _sworn_ he saw Tsuyu's eyes turn glassy.

"Of course, I argued with them," Tsuyu continued, clearing her throat. "I mean, don't they need me? And what about my siblings? Don't they need me, too? But, they told me that I can come visit over the weekends to spend time with them, so for now, they wanted me to get better and feel less stressed about everything."

"And have you?" Katsuki asked, and he was surprised as to how soft his voice came out. It sounded so loud in the apartment because of the quietness, and he could've sworn his voice would've echoed if he spoke just a tad louder.

Tsuyu nodded slowly. "Honestly? Yeah. I feel less stressed. But, I didn't want them to worry about the rent, so I told them that I'd take a small part-time job to pay for it." She paused. "I just wished they talked to me about it beforehand."

"They were just thinking about you."

"I know, but…still." Tsuyu sighed, almost shuddering, before she looked at Katsuki with those big glossy eyes of hers.

Katsuki was thankful he wasn't sitting anywhere close to her. The way that she looked at him right now made her seem so vulnerable, so fragile, and yet, so _innocent_ that it felt wrong for him to even lay his eyes on her, and he was the type of person who would almost never be affected by sights like these.

"Well, anyway, that's how I ended up here. I didn't expect you to be my neighbor, to be honest. Doesn't Todai offer student dormitories?"

"Yeah, but those are meant for the international students," Katsuki replied before he grimaced. "Besides, after those student dorms we lived in for high school, I'd rather _not_ be around my peers."

"But, you live within the area, don't you? So, why not commute?"

Katsuki grimaced before he raised an eyebrow. "You _really_ wanna know?"

Tsuyu raised an eyebrow back, almost teasingly as a smile came onto her face.

Katsuki resisted the urge to grimace even more because she _really_ needed to stop smiling.

"Well, considering how I shared with you what I said…" Tsuyu trailed off, gesturing Katsuki to talk.

Katsuki sighed. "To put it bluntly, I didn't want to go back to that hellhole of a home, so as soon as I graduated, I tried to find a place that I could live that was near Todai, packed my stuff, and left."

Tsuyu blinked a few times. "And…your parents didn't say anything?"

"My mom was a bit disappointed, but she understood."

"What about your dad?"

Katsuki frowned before letting out a sigh. "My old man passed away back when I was five."

Tsuyu's eyes widened before her eyes softened and she whispered, "I'm sorry for your lost."

"Thanks," Katsuki replied softly.

"So, it's just been you and your mom, then?"

"Yeah, up until she got together with her on-and-off ex-boyfriend when I was in eighth grade."

"That…doesn't sound healthy."

"Well, their relationship was originally stable—at least until my mom found out on accident about how shitty he treated me." Katsuki then scowled. "He's a two-faced bastard in my opinion. He always showed a good face to her and in front of her and treated her well, but whenever she was out of the picture, he'd always be instigating shit with me." Katsuki paused, his eyes darkening. "It was like I was the bane of his existence or something."

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that, Bakugo."

Katsuki grunted in response.

"I really am." Tsuyu paused. "But, why didn't you ever try to tell your mom?"

"Couldn't."

"Why not? He treated you so poorly—"

"Because he's the first man who made my mom smile the same way my old man used to," Katsuki interrupted, scowling before he let out a long sigh. "My old man passed away due to a heart condition he had. It took a long time for my mom to be able to even start dating again." Katsuki paused, lowering his tone. "I may be an asshole, but I still have a fucking heart. I'm not going to ruin my mom's chance at happiness again."

"Even at the expense of your mental health?" Tsuyu whispered.

Katsuki hadn't realized then that Tsuyu had crawled across the couch to sit closer with him until she was right beside him. Honestly, it took everything in him to not flinch when he realized their proximity, but he calmed down when she sat down with her legs crossed, still facing him.

Finally, Katsuki shrugged before he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "Wouldn't you do the same?"

There was a long pause until Tsuyu asked, "So, is that why you ended up here?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Katsuki let out a sardonic laugh, but when Tsuyu didn't respond, his smirk dropped, and he raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Were you…ever kicked out at some point?"

Katsuki's eyes widened.

"Midoriya or Kirishima didn't tell me or anything," Tsuyu added quickly. "I…I just remember overhearing you say that you slept over at Midoriya's at some point to Kirishima one day."

"Oh, _that_ ," Katsuki grumbled before he sighed. "Yeah, I was. When my mom went on those long business trips of hers, and he was there to watch me, he would always kick me out whenever he got pissed off at me, even if it was over a minor thing, _or_ he would instigate me and _then_ kick me out."

"That's horrible," Tsuyu mumbled, her eyes drooping and her tone softening.

Katsuki shrugged. "Well, that's the kind of shitty person he is. He would tell me that he just couldn't _believe_ how a beautiful woman like my mother would somehow give birth to a delinquent like me."

"You're not a delinquent, though."

"Yeah, tell that to the judgmental asshole," Katsuki grumbled before he sighed. "Anyway, the first time he did it, I ended up running over to Deku's house _in the rain_ , mind you, and asked if I could stay the night. His mom was more than happy to let me stay over after she found out from Deku what was going on at home with me. Since then, whenever I got kicked out after a big fight with him, I'd sleep over at Deku's."

"And…your mom never knew this?"

"Yeah."

"Did she at least know that you slept over at Midoriya's?"

"Yeah, I told her where I was when I came back the morning after. I think at that point, she just started phoning his mom whenever I was over to check in on me."

"I see…"

"Yeah," Katsuki muttered before letting out a long exhale. "Eventually, my mom found out on accident when she came home early from one of her business trips. She found us in a heated argument after he criticized the shit out of me, and since then, they've been in an on-and-off relationship. My mom eventually got tired of the relationship, too, and they've been off for at least two years now. Aside from that, I didn't want her to worry about me anymore, so that's also why I ended up here."

And it was in that moment of silence that Katsuki realized that surprisingly, he felt comfortable talking about this issue with Tsuyu. Granted, he had always brushed it off and never wanted to talk about it unless the other person was Izuku or Eijiro. Perhaps it was because he knew deep down that Tsuyu wasn't a blabbermouth and wouldn't dare to talk to anyone else about it, or maybe it was just because it was so late, he got sentimental and had to share something personal about himself to her, especially after she shared something so personal to him.

Katsuki frowned.

Why _was_ it that she decided something that personal to him? Was she getting sentimental, too? Or did she still view him as a friend, even though he was a total jerk to her last week? But, if that was the case, she would've corrected him about referring to her by her last name by now, wouldn't she?

Katsuki began to scowl.

"Bakugo?" Tsuyu called out, breaking Katsuki's train of thought. "Is everything okay?"

Katsuki grunted. "It's nothing."

Tsuyu only stared at him in response.

Katsuki resisted the urge to shift, no matter how uncomfortable he felt from her gaze. He knew that she saw through his lie because of that stupid keen sense of hers, but he hoped that she would just move on already.

"Well, Bakugo, as much as I like talking with you, it's nearly midnight."

Katsuki's eyes widened, and just as he was about to exclaim, he felt Tsuyu's finger pressed against his lips. His body suddenly became stiff as he stared at Tsuyu, wondering what the hell she was going to do next.

"Bakugo, I know you like to yell—"

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at her.

"But you _really_ shouldn't yell when it's this late."

Katsuki grabbed her wrist—the same one that had her finger against his mouth—and moved it away gently. "You _do_ realize that I don't give a damn what my neighbors think, right?"

"Yes, but you're in _my_ apartment," Tsuyu remarked, tilting her head as she smiled in amusement and raised an eyebrow. "Meaning that if you make any loud noises, _I'll_ be the one who suffers from the complaints."

It was that smile of hers that made Katsuki fall silent. He didn't know why she kept smiling this evening, and when he finally noticed their proximity—how close she was to her, how soft the skin on her wrist felt, the way she tilted her head, the way she _smiled_ , for God's sake—he immediately cleared his throat, let go of her wrist, and stood up from the couch.

"Bakugo?" Tsuyu asked in confusion.

"You're right," Katsuki replied, thankful that his voice didn't crack, as Tsuyu stood up beside him. "I should be heading back. I'm exhausted, honestly."

"All right, then. I'll lock up after you."

Katsuki nodded before he headed to the doorway. He knew Tsuyu was behind him, despite the light footsteps he could barely hear. It was only when he was at the door and put on his sneakers that he noticed Tsuyu standing still, simply staring at him instead of moving towards her door. He furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Are we friends?" Tsuyu asked.

Katsuki's eyes widened, completely taken aback, and he took a short moment to compose himself. Just why did she have to ask that question so suddenly?

"You can answer me honestly, Bakugo." Tsuyu paused. "Do you consider me as a friend?"

Katsuki shifted his gaze to the floor, frowning as he thought about her question some more. Did he really consider her as a friend? Yeah, he told her all that stuff about his parents, and yeah, she told stuff about herself, but…did that really qualify them as friends? Friends meant that they were someone who you hung out with, right? And he barely hung out with anyone except Izuku and Eijiro.

It was only after he heard Tsuyu sigh as she walked past him that he broke out of his train of thought. When he snapped his head to where she was, she was already at the door, about to unlock it.

"Yeah," Katsuki blurted out, and when she froze and slowly turned around, almost as if to torture him with the suspense, he inaudibly gulped.

"Do you really mean that, Bakugo?" Tsuyu asked, staring at him with a blank look on her face, but there was something in her tone that suggested… _hope_.

And honestly, Katsuki didn't want to crush that.

"Yeah," Katsuki muttered, suddenly shifting his gaze again and feeling uncomfortable.

It was only when he heard Tsuyu giggle softly that he looked at her again, and in that moment, he couldn't bring himself to look away from that genuine, soft smile of hers, paired with those eyes full of elation, no matter how hard he tried.

"I'm glad," Tsuyu whispered, her tone so happy and full of relief.

Maybe it was just the lighting, the summer night heat, or perhaps her own embarrassment over saying that out loud, but when he saw a small blush overcome her cheeks, he felt his breathing hitch, and honestly, he just didn't know why.


	4. A Heavy, Lonely Heart

**Disclaimer:** I don't own **_My Hero Academia_** and any of its characters used in this fanfic.

 **A/N:** Real talk: It blows my mind that this still gets so many views despite my slow updates. Granted, it might be because this is one of the few multi-chapter fanfics out there for Katsuyu or because I post my updates on Tumblr and occasionally Twitter, but at the end of the day, it means that Katsuyu fans are out there, which makes me really happy!

As always, thank you for all your wonderful reviews and for taking the time to read this fanfic! I know I update slow, but this is mostly because I'm busy with the way my life is right now, so I can only write and revise in whatever spare time I happen to have. It means a lot to me to know that each and every one of you enjoy how I'm writing _Change of Heart_ and the relationship between Katsuki and Tsuyu so far, too.

Also, Horikoshi released a new Katsuyu sketch he did on 6/9/2019 on Twitter, and the Japanese Katsuyu fandom has already drawn a few fanart and doujinshis based off it, and I just... I inwardly died and couldn't sleep last night because (1) the sketch seems like it's based on a typical shojo cliché, so my imaginative brain kept wondering if Horikoshi could be _implying_ something and (2) I was extremely happy to see new OTP content, so I felt like I _had_ to finish revising this chapter and post it already. (This chapter is a bit longer than the previous one, which hopefully makes up for the long wait!)

With all that said, enjoy!

* * *

 **Change of Heart**

Chapter 4: _A Heavy, Lonely Heart_

Before Katsuki knew it, two weeks had passed by, and it was already Saturday, September 1. A part of him initially felt weird over the idea that he and Tsuyu were now "friends," as she wanted, but every time he recalled her face, his gut feeling told him that he had spoken the right thing—that he agreed to this friendship—and he'd reassure himself that it'd be no different than what he usually did. Well, aside from the fact that he was now used to greeting Tsuyu and spoke _words_ instead of grunting as usual because she started to get all smart with him.

To be honest, even though they were now friends, he hadn't been able to see her much lately. All he could recall since the last time he had spoken with her, which was having that heart-to-heart conversation regarding college and their backgrounds, was him continuously working overtime and doing double-shifts. Katsuki seeing himself have eyebags whenever he looked at himself in the mirror had already become the norm because of his sleep deprivation from school, but this time, he had much darker eyebags than he normally did. Still, he knew this was worth it because he needed the money. Besides, he could handle staying sleep deprived for a while longer since school wouldn't start until Tuesday, September 25.

Last evening, Katsuki had confessed to Izuku on LINE about working so many hours because Izuku had kept inviting him out to hang out with him and Eijiro, which Katsuki would continuously turn down due to work. Unsurprisingly, Izuku lectured him because of Katsuki's workaholic tendencies, especially when finances were involved, and he reminded Katsuki that he shouldn't work to the point where he'd become exhausted. Of course, confessing to Izuku meant that Eijiro found out, and Eijiro ended up lecturing Katsuki as well, stating the same points as Izuku and how even if Katsuki needed the money, his well-being came first.

Katsuki knew all that, of course, but his rationale argued that once school started, he'd have to cut down his hours again, which would mean _less_ money, and he needed to be prepared in case anything unpredictable happened.

Katsuki sighed, thankful that he didn't have overtime work earlier today, but even though he slept from morning to evening, nearing almost 6:30 P.M. now, there was a part of him that still felt exhausted—physically _and_ mentally.

Just then, Katsuki heard his door bell ring, and immediately, he furrowed his brow. When he heard another ring and some knocking, he rolled his eyes and reluctantly got up from his bed to his door. After he looked through the peephole, Katsuki blinked in surprise.

Without hesitating, Katsuki unlocked the door and swung it open as he sent a glare. "What do you want?"

Tsuyu stood in front of him, raising an eyebrow in response.

Katsuki finally took notice of her attire: a gray big, baggy hoodie that covered her figure entirely, black leggings, and dark green slippers. Her hair was entirely down, which he wasn't used to seeing since she always had some part of her hair tied up.

When Katsuki caught himself staring at her because she hadn't said anything, he frowned. "Well?"

"Bakugo, you should know better than to greet a friend like that at your doorstep," Tsuyu coolly said.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at her, knowing fully well that she was most likely teasing him again, and his suspicions were confirmed when she gave him an amused smile. "For your information, Asui—"

"Tsuyu."

Katsuki groaned. "Okay, for your information, _Tsuyu_ , I greet all my friends like that."

"No wonder you have such few friends, then."

"Are you going to keep sassing me with that mouth of yours, or are you going to tell me what you want already?" Katsuki retorted dryly.

"Have dinner with me."

Katsuki blinked a few times before finally furrowing his brow in confusion. "What?"

"Have dinner with me," Tsuyu repeated in the same calm, collected manner.

Katsuki blinked again, and he tried to assess the situation in his brain as quickly as he could. The last time a girl invited him out to something was…shortly before he met Tsuyu again, now that he thought about it, and he turned that girl down once he had realized that she was asking him out on a date. But, Tsuyu was inviting him this time, so would that mean…?

Katsuki's eyes immediately widened, and he tried his best to not let Tsuyu know about his thought process as he pursed his lips.

"Bakugo?" Tsuyu called out, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you thought I was asking you out on a date."

Katsuki scoffed, trying to mask his facial expression with nonchalance. "And why the hell would I think that?"

"Because no matter how much you try to hide that facial expression of yours, your body language is a dead giveaway."

Katsuki immediately flinched and frowned. "Hey, I did _not_ think you were asking me out—"

"Good, so you're okay with coming over for dinner as _just_ friends?" Tsuyu interrupted with an amused smile. "Of course, if you're _that_ tired, you don't have to come over. It just means, you know, more food for me."

Katsuki sent her a small glare. "You're bribing me with food."

Tsuyu nodded.

"Why?"

"Come over in thirty minutes, and you'll know why," Tsuyu coolly replied, and without even giving Katsuki a chance to reply, she walked away and went inside her apartment next door.

Katsuki sighed and frowned, but he decided to go along with it anyway. He didn't understand _why_ she was inviting him over for dinner, especially since it was out of nowhere, but hell, he may as well get changed and go. Besides, free food was always a plus in his book.

After he had gotten ready, wearing just a black t-shirt, red shorts, and his regular sneakers, and waited until it was exactly thirty minutes, he locked his apartment door and went to hers, knocking on it twice before the door opened.

"Took you long enough," Tsuyu said before she stepped aside to let him in.

"The hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" Katsuki replied, raising an eyebrow while taking off his shoes at the doorstep as she locked the door.

"I thought that you wouldn't need to take so long to prepare yourself since, you know, you're right next door."

"The hell? You're the one who told me to come over in thirty minutes."

"I know," Tsuyu said, walking past him. "Food's on the table, by the way."

Katsuki followed until they both arrived at a small table with two chairs. On top was two small bowls with cooked fresh, hot white rice and vegetable soup and spoons to the side. Katsuki could see remnants of carrots and other leafy greens within the orange soup in his bowl as they both sat down.

"You came just in time, too, so it's still hot," Tsuyu said as she grabbed her spoon, preparing to eat. "If you came any later, your portion would've been cold."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes. "You would've left my portion out in the open like that?"

"Maybe."

"Jerk."

Tsuyu let out a small laugh before she began eating.

Katsuki, however, couldn't help but stare at his bowl, not even bothering to pick up the spoon.

Tsuyu paused in her eating. "You're not going to eat?"

"Why?"

"Well, your food's going to get cold soon—"

"No, not that, you smartass," Katsuki interrupted. "I meant, why did you invite me over for dinner? Especially out of nowhere."

Tsuyu didn't respond. Instead, she pursed her lips and dropped her gaze to the table as she placed her spoon into her bowl.

"Well?"

When Katsuki's eyes met with Tsuyu's, he resisted the urge to flinch. He was reminded again with that piercing gaze of hers—as if she could see _right through him_ and what he was thinking—and he didn't dare say anything further, pursing his lips as he waited for her to talk.

Finally, she said in a soft voice, "You seemed tired."

"So?"

"I was worried." Tsuyu paused, her eyes finally showing her concern for him as she frowned. "You know, about you."

And just like that, Katsuki resisted the urge to shudder because of that _tone_ of hers, so he frowned and glanced away—just _away_ from those eyes of hers. "It's none of your business—"

"It _is_ my business because we're _friends_ , Bakugo," Tsuyu interrupted.

Katsuki looked at her, and surprisingly to him, she looked peeved.

Tsuyu sighed, her concerned gaze returning. "I can tell that you haven't been sleeping much with those eyebags of yours, you know."

"I'll be fine," Katsuki said, still resisting the urge to shudder. "Look, I get you're concerned, but I don't need your pity for stuff like this—"

"It's _not_ pity. It's called inviting my friend over for dinner, so he can have a chance to vent about what's been going on in his life because he's been working overtime, which explains why I haven't been seeing him often."

Katsuki blinked in astonishment. "How—"

"Based on our last long conversation, Bakugo, it wasn't too hard to figure out," Tsuyu replied dryly as she raised an eyebrow at him.

Katsuki sighed in response.

"So, care to explain?"

Katsuki groaned. "I already got a lecture from Deku and Kirishima last evening. I don't need one from you, too, Froggy."

" _Tsuyu._ "

"I'll call you Froggy if I want to, damn it."

"Okay, then I have the right to give you a nickname as well."

"What?"

"How about Blondie?"

Katsuki's jaw dropped. " _What?_ "

"You know, because you're blond."

"How about _no?_ "

"Keep calling me Froggy, and I'll start calling you Blondie."

Katsuki groaned. " _Fine_. I'll stop calling you that. Just don't fucking lecture me."

"Only if you explain why you're willing to exhaust yourself just to get more money."

Katsuki frowned. "I need the money. You know that."

"That doesn't justify working to the point of exhaustion."

Katsuki sighed in exasperation. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Tsuyu—"

"Which means whatever you had spent that money on must've been pretty important."

Katsuki's eyes immediately widened in shock. "What?"

"You're obviously a frugal person, Bakugo, so whatever it was must've been really important to you if you were willing to spend that much money."

And just like that, Katsuki resisted the urge to gulp inaudibly and look away from her piercing gaze. She managed to guess why he needed money with such ease that it made him feel... _exposed_ , but looking away meant that her guess was on the mark, and he refused to let her know that.

"Have you at least eaten?" Tsuyu asked, breaking his train of thought.

Katsuki was startled to hear her change the subject, but he was thankful she did. "No. I was asleep and woke up shortly before you came, actually."

"Well, now's your chance to eat a nice, hot meal, right?"

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at Tsuyu, frowning.

Tsuyu blinked, tilting her head slightly in confusion. "What?"

"Are you this considerate to your friends?"

Tsuyu blinked, not responding for a few seconds, despite the calm look on her face. In fact, it…almost looked like she spaced out a bit.

Katsuki furrowed his brow. "Tsuyu?"

"Yes?"

"Are you this considerate to your friends?" Katsuki repeated. "Like, you're willing to just casually invite them over for dinner if they're having a bad day."

"Well, yes, if it came to it, but it all depends. You literally live next door, so it's easy to invite you over for anything, really."

Katsuki frowned, not fully content with that answer. "So, you're telling me that there isn't another reason why you invited me over?"

"Yup."

They stared at each other for a few seconds, their gazes not faltering in the slightest.

Katsuki eventually sighed in defeat and began eating his food. He didn't know whether it was his hunger talking, but the food tasted damn good, and within seconds, he began to eat it eagerly. When he finally noticed her smiling at him, he paused in his eating after swallowing his recent bite and sent her a small smirk.

Having her around really wasn't that bad.

* * *

Katsuki had difficulty sleeping after dinner with Tsuyu, mostly because his sleeping schedule was now different, making him practically nocturnal. Instead, he did things that could keep him busy around his apartment.

Before he knew it, it was already 10 A.M., and just as his eyelids were beginning to shut, he heard his doorbell ring and someone knocking on his door, which made his eyes widen and his brow furrow. A part of him debated on ignoring the ringing, so he can go to bed, but when the ringing continued, he groaned, dragging his feet to his door, and just then, he heard clear, but slightly muffled voices.

"Hey, Bakugo, open up!"

"Kirishima, I don't think that's going to make Kacchan answer the door any faster…"

Immediately, Katsuki swung the door open, and there, standing in front of him, was none other than Izuku Midoriya and Eijiro Kirishima.

"It's about time, man!" Eijiro exclaimed.

"Oh, hey, Kacchan!" Izuku greeted.

Katsuki grunted. "Come in."

Within seconds, Eijiro and Izuku brushed past Katsuki and entered, taking off their shoes in the doorway as Katsuki shut and locked the door.

"Now, what do you want?" Katsuki asked as the three of them headed to his living room.

Once they all settled down, sitting on the floor, Eijiro and Izuku gave each other knowing glances.

Katsuki immediately frowned. "What's with those looks?"

"We were just worried about you, Kacchan," Izuku said. "Kirishima thought it'd be a great idea to come visit you today, but I said it probably wasn't since, you know, I figured you'd be sleeping."

"Well, at least _one_ of you is considerate enough," Katsuki said, sending a pointed look at Eijiro. "And you're right, Deku. I was just about to go to bed."

"That's all the more reason for us to come, then!" Eijiro exclaimed.

"I'm supposed to _rest_ , you asshole."

"Yeah, but at this rate, are you going to be okay when school comes around?" Izuku asked, his brow furrowing in concern. "If you keep overworking yourself, your sleeping schedule really _will_ get messed up to the point where you can't focus in school anymore."

"I'll be _fine_."

"As in, 'don't give me your pity because I'm such a badass,'" Eijiro muttered.

Izuku immediately snorted.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes. " _Hey!_ I can kick you both out, you know!"

Izuku and Eijiro, however, started to laugh, even when Katsuki's glare intensified.

After realizing that Izuku and Eijiro weren't going to stop laughing despite his glare, Katsuki clicked his tongue in defeat. " _Anyway_ , since you're both here, do you want anything to eat? I got instant noodles. If you want anything else, I'll have to check the fridge and see what else I got."

Eijiro frowned. "Why don't we go out—"

Izuku immediately elbowed Eijiro, who then grunted in pain.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes. "Deku…"

Izuku smiled as if nothing happened. "Yes?"

Katsuki sighed. "If you both want to go out to eat, I have money to spare to do so."

Izuku frowned. "But, aren't you trying to save up?"

"Look, Deku, I know you're trying to be considerate of my financial situation—"

"Yeah, especially since you splurged on my birthday present."

Katsuki's mouth stayed open, completely in mid-sentence, for a few seconds before he glared at Eijiro, who began to whistle inconspicuously while looking away. "You _told_ him? What the hell, Kirishima?!"

"It's not his fault, Kacchan! I asked him to tell me because I knew _you_ wouldn't."

"Well, _yeah_ , because if you fucking knew, you wouldn't even take it!"

"But—"

"No, don't you _dare_ _!_ I know how much you love superheroes, especially those American comic books, so it's really not a big deal!"

"Kacchan, you got me _the entire series_ and _a limited-edition action figure_ —"

"Which you _well deserved_ , so shut it, Deku!"

Eijiro sighed. " _Dude_. Come on, Midoriya kept asking me because he was concerned with how much you've been working… Obviously, you wouldn't work this much overtime unless you were that short of cash."

Katsuki scowled and grunted in response.

"Kacchan, you really didn't need to splurge," Izuku said, a look of concern appearing on his face again. "I mean it. You coming to celebrate my birthday would've been enough."

"I came late, you dolt," Katsuki grumbled.

"Which still counts, Kacchan. You know that."

Katsuki grunted, ignoring that knowing look on Eijiro's face, and he pursed his lips since he knew that Eijiro was thinking of the reason _why_ he didn't come to celebrate Izuku's birthday as originally scheduled—all because he couldn't dare face Ochaco, not when his heart still plummeted and fell into pure, utter shambles around her.

Katsuki then shut his eyes and let out a long sigh, forcing himself to drown out those thoughts of her and her smile into the back of his head. " _Anyway_ , if you guys want to go to a breakfast joint, I'm down. Although, I guess it counts more like an early lunch for you both at this point."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Midoriya here hasn't eaten breakfast either," Eijiro said.

Izuku's jaw dropped. " _Kirishima!_ "

"Okay, then we're _definitely_ going," Katsuki said, sending a small scolding glare at Izuku, who grinned sheepishly in response. "So, where to?"

"Well, Uraraka told me about this place she went to recently. Apparently, Asui works there. It's a café, but she said the pastries and drinks there are really good."

Katsuki pursed his lips, remembering Tsuyu's warning that he should avoid that café unless he wanted to encounter Ochaco. "Ah. That place."

Izuku blinked in surprise. "You know that place, Kacchan?"

"Yeah, I stopped by there once when Tsuyu was working. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known about it at all. Hell, I didn't even know it was that popular to begin with… Anyway, you two got any other places in mind? Because if all that café has is pastries, then that sure as hell won't fill any of us up."

When Katsuki realized that neither Izuku or Eijiro had given a response, he finally noticed that they were staring at him with wide eyes, almost in complete shock.

Katsuki frowned. "What?"

"Oh, my God," Eijiro muttered.

" _What?_ "

"You just referred to Asui by her first name," Izuku replied softly, his eyes still wide.

Katsuki blinked, and then, he pursed his lips, realizing his _God damn mistake_ , but fuck it, they were going to find out eventually. Finally, he let out a long sigh. "Yeah, I did. So, what?"

"Have you two been seeing each other?" Eijiro asked, scrutinizing his eyes at Katsuki.

"Yes, but not in the way you're suggesting," Katsuki deadpanned.

Eijiro raised an eyebrow, sending him a doubtful look.

Katsuki groaned. "We're _just_ friends, damn it."

"But, when did you two become friends?" Izuku asked.

"Shortly after she moved into this apartment building," Katsuki grumbled.

Izuku's jaw dropped while Eijiro's eyes widened.

Izuku blinked a few times, still surprised. "Wow, Uraraka told me that Asui recently moved, but to think that she moved here out of all the apartment complexes in the city…"

"Yeah, and she moved in right next door," Katsuki grumbled.

Eijiro whistled. "Wow, that's a _really_ big coincidence."

"Well, I guess that explains why Uraraka setting up a blind date for Asui next Saturday…" Izuku muttered.

Katsuki's and Eijiro's eyes widened in shock.

"Uh, _what?_ " Eijiro finally managed to say, blinking a few times.

"With whom?" Katsuki asked, still trying to overcome his shock.

"Oh, uh, I actually don't know. Uraraka said she wanted to try to keep it as much of a secret as possible until the date happens." Izuku paused. "Although, she _did_ tell me that it was with a guy Asui used to like…"

Eijiro blinked in astonishment. "Huh… I had no idea Tsuyu used to like someone. I wonder who he is."

Katsuki, however, knew who it most likely was, which made him frown and avert his gaze. He recalled his heart-to-heart conversation with Tsuyu two weeks ago, remembering that she mentioned how she used to like someone who she had moved on from—the same person who had liked her best friend.

A part of him wondered why Tsuyu would agree to the blind date, but to be honest, there was a larger part of him that wondered why Ochaco had that person be the blind date when she should've known that Tsuyu had moved on from him a long time ago…unless Tsuyu had never moved on from him in the first place.

Just like that, Katsuki felt a part of his stomach begin to churn, and he didn't know if it was due to this epiphany of his or the possibility that Tsuyu had lied to him this entire time.

* * *

Katsuki knew he had to confront Tsuyu about it, mostly to calm his uneasiness over the possibility that Tsuyu had lied to him. She didn't seem like the type of person to lie, of course, but if she never moved on from that guy, then that would've meant that…she was in the same boat as him—probably even worse, since he didn't know how long she had liked that guy.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn't confront her about it until later that week on Saturday, September 8, a week just before her supposed blind date.

Katsuki had invited her over for dinner yesterday because hell, she invited him on Sunday, so he may as well return the favor. Besides, he wanted to use this as an excuse to finally cook, considering the numerous days he could easily recall he just didn't have _time_ to cook…or lacked the energy to, especially when he had school.

When it was 6:30 P.M., Katsuki heard the doorbell ring, and he ran to the doorway, giving a moment to himself to calm down and appear normal, before he opened the door.

Tsuyu stood there, wearing a baggy long-sleeved dark green sweater, red leggings, and cognac slippers, and her hair was in a low ponytail.

"What's with your outfit?" Katsuki asked, raising an eyebrow. "You look like Christmas threw up on you."

"What's with your face?" Tsuyu coolly retorted, brushing past Katsuki before he closed and locked the door. "It looks like something that only a mother could love."

"Okay, now _that's_ just harsh." Katsuki paused. "And unoriginal as hell."

Tsuyu let out an amused snicker as she took off her slippers, raising an eyebrow at him. "Hey, you started it."

"Yeah, but you _are_ wearing Christmas colors, and it's way too damn early for that," Katsuki replied as they entered his living room and walked to his kitchen.

Tsuyu shrugged. "I like green."

"I can tell."

Tsuyu glanced at the large pot on the stove. "What did you make?"

Katsuki grinned. "Pasta."

"Oh, so we're having Italian now?"

"You bet your ass we are," Katsuki replied, grinning as they both walked to the pot. He stirred and glanced at Tsuyu, who took a whiff and smiled. "If you don't think my pasta's delicious now, then you'll be eating your God damn words once you take a bite."

Tsuyu let out a laugh. "That confident, huh?"

"Hell yeah I am." Katsuki shut off the stove after giving a final stir and mixing the pasta further with the sauce. He then opened a cabinet, grabbing two large-sized bowls, and handed one to Tsuyu. "Here. Help yourself."

"Thanks," Tsuyu replied before she used the ladle to begin putting pasta from the pot into her bowl.

Katsuki couldn't help but stare at Tsuyu, his mind wandering to how he was going to ask her about her blind date.

Finally, Tsuyu handed him the ladle. "Here. And thanks for the food and inviting me over."

"Hey, we're friends now, right?" Katsuki replied, sending her a small smirk.

Tsuyu blinked before her face slowly dissolved into a soft smile. "Yeah."

Katsuki's face faltered, his lips pursing, and when he noticed Tsuyu's face dropped, a curious gaze on her face, he asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, as long as it's before the pasta gets too cold."

Katsuki opened his mouth, closed it, and then let out a sigh. "Uh, I heard from Deku that you…have a date coming up?"

Tsuyu blinked, her eyes widening in surprise. "Oh… You heard about that."

"Yeah." Katsuki frowned. "He said it was a blind date."

"Oh, it's not a blind date anymore."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow.

"Ochaco couldn't wait to tell me any longer who it was, so she spilled the beans that it's Tokoyami."

Katsuki squinted his eyes, feeling like that name was familiar, but he couldn't recognize it off the top of his head. "Who?"

"Fumikage Tokoyami. Remember? He was in our class back in our first year of high school."

Katsuki blinked a few times, his lips pursing. "Yeah, I got nothing."

Tsuyu let out a sigh. "He's the person who you kept calling Bird Boy."

"Oh, him. Right, I remember him now. He was obsessed with birds." Katsuki paused before he raised an eyebrow at Tsuyu. "Just like you and your frog obsession."

Tsuyu raised an eyebrow at him back. "Excuse me?"

"It's why I gave you those nicknames in the first place. You know, Bird Boy and Froggy."

"I'm well aware of that."

Katsuki then frowned. "So…"

"Yes?"

Katsuki didn't know _why_ it was so difficult for him to try to ask her further about it, but damn it, he needed to get it out of the way now. He then cleared his throat, pausing for a few seconds. "So, is Tokoyami the guy you used to like? You know, the…one you told me about last time—the one who liked your best friend."

"No."

Katsuki blinked in surprise. "Oh. But, Deku mentioned he was someone you used to like?"

Tsuyu nodded. "He was."

Katsuki frowned, still curious because really, how in the world did Tsuyu end up liking someone like Fumikage? And if it wasn't Fumikage, then who was it that she talked about?

"You should get pasta for yourself," Tsuyu said, breaking Katsuki's train of thought.

"Ah, right," Katsuki grumbled before he grabbed a big enough portion from the pot into his bowl and turned off the stove.

Tsuyu then settled herself to a nearby counter and began eating her pasta before giving out a low hum of satisfaction.

Katsuki stood next to her, placing his bowl down and smirking. "See? Told you it'd be good."

"You definitely put your money where your mouth is," Tsuyu said as she nodded. "If we made a bet, I would've lost."

Katsuki's smirk grew before he began eating.

"But, Bakugo, why ask?"

Katsuki gave a questioning hum as he continued to eat, raising an eyebrow at her.

"About my blind date and Tokoyami. Why?"

Katsuki shrugged before he swallowed his recent bite. "I was just…curious, I guess."

"Curious?"

"Yeah. I mean, you never told me who you liked. I thought Tokoyami was the one you had recently moved on from, and if that was the case, then, well…" Katsuki's voice trailed off, and honestly, he wasn't sure how to continue, so he immediately began eating again to avoid continuing further, hoping that Tsuyu wouldn't see through his actions.

"Then, what?" Tsuyu asked.

Katsuki frowned, pausing in his eating again. "Well…Tokoyami was someone you liked, right?"

Tsuyu nodded.

"But, he's not the one who you recently moved on from?"

Tsuyu nodded again.

Katsuki frowned, his curiosity still not satisfied. "What drew you to Tokoyami in the first place?"

Tsuyu blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?"

Katsuki shrugged, feeling the awkwardness begin to simmer in his body. "Uh, you know, why…did you like him? Like, what drew you to him?"

Tsuyu blinked again, this time tilting her head as she hummed softly.

Katsuki sent her a deadpanned look. "Don't tell me you don't know why you liked him."

"No, I do."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"But, the thing is, Tokoyami was just a middle school crush of mine, and looking back on it, it was just pure infatuation. It wasn't really going to go anywhere because I never really had the courage to talk to him back then, and eventually, I got over him."

Katsuki frowned. "Just like that?"

Tsuyu nodded slowly. "Yup, just like that." She paused. "He…never really showed interest in anyone romantically back then. I didn't know much about him except some things here and there, like how he was into birds."

"So…when did you get over him?"

Tsuyu hummed softly. "I think…by the time eighth grade started. I had a big crush on him the first year of middle school, but by the time eighth grade came around, I sort of came to my senses and just moved on from him naturally since we never interacted much. Once high school came around, I started to see him as more of a friend because of school festivities. He and I aren't close, but I like to think that we're friends to some degree."

Katsuki nodded slowly, staying silent as he let everything digest into his mind. Honestly, he didn't know how to react, but there was that small curious part of him that came out again, so he asked, "Do you think you'll fall for him during the date?"

Tsuyu blinked in surprise before she tilted her head, pondering.

Katsuki felt his breathing begin to hitch, so he tried to calm himself down, despite his pounding heart. Honestly, he didn't know _why_ he was reacting this way.

Finally, Tsuyu said, "I'm not sure."

Katsuki blinked, his train of thought now broken. "What?"

"I'm not sure if I'll fall for him." Tsuyu paused before she let out a sigh. "Honestly, I feel like I'll still just see him as a friend."

Katsuki frowned, pursing his lips. "And if you don't?"

Tsuyu shrugged. "It's just one date, Bakugo. Even if we don't see each other romantically at the end of the date, at least we'll still have fun together and be friends. Besides, I've only ever liked two people before: Tokoyami and…the boy I told you about last time."

"I see," Katsuki mumbled, his gaze lingering at the way her eyes softened. The longer he stared at her, the more he could begin to see the pain in her eyes, so he wanted to say something to take her mind off this boy, but he couldn't think of anything—not even when she finally let out a small sigh that broke the silence between them.

"What I felt for him was…a lot more different than what I felt for Tokoyami. With Tokoyami, it was infatuation. With _him_ , it was…different." Tsuyu paused as she smiled. "That's the best way I can describe it, honestly, and it's why I feel like I won't fall for Tokoyami."

Katsuki couldn't help but stare at the genuine look on Tsuyu's face, silently processing what she said. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't want to be… _alone_ in feeling the way he currently felt regarding Ochaco. Izuku and Eijiro couldn't empathize with his situation; Tsuyu was the only one who could because she had been in the _same_ position he was. Hell, judging by how she had reacted just now, maybe she even suffered more than he did…

"All right, if you say so," Katsuki managed to finally say, but despite those words he uttered to her, it didn't lift the heaviness growing in his heart, no matter how much he knew he should be wishing her the best.


	5. Old Feelings Revealed

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _My Hero Academia_ and any of its characters used in this fanfic.

 **A/N:** Thanks for your patience with this chapter, everyone, and for all the wonderful reviews you left behind!

For all the reviewers who guessed who Tsuyu used to have feelings for, I'm just going to say this now: it was _really_ difficult for me to resist replying because I was so concerned that I might accidentally give away who Tsuyu had feelings for. (After all, I didn't want to spoil the next chapter for you guys!)

On a side note, I'm still low-key internally dying at the lack of Katsuyu content, so I decided I should get around to finally revising and posting this before 2019 is over. It took some time, especially since I'm still pretty busy, but I finally managed to get it done.

With all that said, enjoy!

* * *

 **Change of Heart**

Chapter 5: _Old Feelings Revealed_

Before Katsuki knew it, it was already Sunday, September 16, and Katsuki was having dinner with Tsuyu again, but this time, it was in her apartment. He had insisted on bringing over his own food instead of Tsuyu cooking because he refused to be in debt to her again, even though she had insisted otherwise.

There was a quiet, comfortable silence between them as he sat across from her at her small dinner table. Katsuki honestly didn't mind it, not even when he felt his legs brush against hers every now and then when one of them shifted their position. It was warm in her apartment, thanks to her heater, allowing Katsuki to relax and forget that the autumn weather was steadily getting colder. Despite that, Tsuyu still had her hair tied in a bun, and Katsuki couldn't help but wonder if she had done that out of comfort.

"So, how was the date?" Katsuki asked, breaking the silence after chewing on his recent bite of instant noodles.

Tsuyu paused in her eating, the spoon of rice and vegetable soup left in her mouth, as she pondered. Then, she took it out and swallowed. "It was fun."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow. "Took you a while to answer that."

"I was eating."

"Uh-huh. If it was bad, you could've just said so."

Tsuyu rolled her eyes in amusement. "It was _not_ bad, Bakugo."

"Whatever you say," Katsuki replied, smirking before he paused and licked his lips. "So…are you planning to go on another date?"

Tsuyu shook her head. "We had fun, but we both agreed that we could only see each other as friends and nothing more."

Within seconds, Katsuki felt his heavy heart lessen, and he tried to not let it show by taking another bite of his instant noodles. After he swallowed, he smirked again and raised an eyebrow. "What? Was he not good enough for you?"

"I'm sure he'd be a better date than _you_ , if that's what you're implying," Tsuyu replied coolly as she raised an eyebrow.

Katsuki snorted, his smirk still apparent on his face. "Was it a hell of a lot more fun than hanging out with me?"

Tsuyu hummed for a few seconds in amusement as she pondered.

However, Katsuki caught that playful glint in her eyes and immediately understood that she was just pretending. There was something about her that drew his gaze to her face, so he couldn't help but stare. He knew how perceptive Tsuyu was, so he tried to hide whatever it was he felt deep in his chest by pretending to look nonchalant and hoped that she wouldn't notice.

Finally, Tsuyu sent him a soft smile, breaking his train of thought. "I like hanging out with you, Bakugo. A lot, actually."

Katsuki's eyes widened, and he immediately tried to mask his astonishment at her direct honesty by clearing his throat.

"Now that I think about it, have you ever been on a date before?"

"What? That's one hell of a random question."

"Well, it's just that my date with Tokoyami was my first one ever, so it made me wonder if you had ever been on one."

Katsuki then frowned. "No, I haven't."

Tsuyu blinked a few times in surprise. "Not even a mixer?"

"I got invited to those a bunch of times, but I always turned them down."

Tsuyu didn't respond for a few seconds before she finally said softly, "Because you're still trying to move on, aren't you?"

Katsuki flinched, his grip tightening on his chopsticks, before he let out a sigh. "Yeah. Besides, I'm _really_ not interested in being in a relationship right now. I got way too much going on."

Tsuyu raised an eyebrow as she began eating again, prompting Katsuki to continue.

Katsuki let out an exasperated sigh. "Being in a relationship means you got to take your partner on dates, spend time with them, get them gifts—and honestly, why should I waste all that time when I could be earning money or studying instead?"

"You're spending time with me."

"That's different."

"How so?"

"Because I actually like spending time with you," Katsuki blurted out without thinking, and within seconds, there was a moment of silence as he realized what he said. When Tsuyu continued to stare at him blankly, he quickly added, "Uh, you know, because we're friends."

"I know. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here having dinner with me."

Katsuki grunted before he frowned, his curiosity eating away at him again. "So…that guy you used to like."

"Hm? Tokoyami?"

"No, the other one." Katsuki paused, his frown growing. "Are you ever going to tell me about him?"

Tsuyu frowned before she let out a sigh. "All right. Sure."

"What?" Katsuki said as he blinked in surprise, not expecting her to give up so easily. "Uh, hey, if you still feel uncomfortable talking about him, you don't need to tell me—"

"No, it's okay. You would've eventually known, anyway, especially since we're friends and live right next door to each other." Tsuyu paused. "Ochaco was the only person I ever confided in about this boy. She knew how much I liked him and the effect he had on me… Even though I've moved on from him now, she thought setting me up on that blind date with Tokoyami would help since I had told her about my old crush on him back in middle school."

For once, Katsuki was surprised to see her hesitate to continue. Hell, if he wasn't mistaken, he could've sworn she saw her let out a small, shaky sigh… Finally, he said, "Tsuyu, you don't have to continue—"

"I met him in our first year of high school together," Tsuyu interrupted hastily.

Katsuki blinked in surprise. "Wait, he went to U.A. with us?"

Tsuyu nodded. "I don't think he really noticed me, though—not that I can blame him. He was the type to stick to himself—just an overall loner, really—and preferred to be alone unless it was with his close friends." Tsuyu paused. "To be completely honest, with this boy, he just…drew my attention like how a moth is drawn to flame.

"And what I felt for him—it was just…so much more different from how I felt about Tokoyami. I kept finding qualities about him that increased my feelings for him again and again. You can call it admiration from afar, but it…it meant something to me because…" Tsuyu let out a small sigh. "It was the way he tackled problems—the way he was so determined at his _goals_ —and it was just so… _inspiring_ to me that eventually, it motivated me enough to pursue what I wanted to do instead of going to Todai, like most of our classmates did."

"You sound like you still like him," Katsuki mumbled softly, not realizing he had said that out loud until it was too late, and he could feel the heaviness not only in his heart, but also in the atmosphere, begin to appear.

Tsuyu let out a long soft sigh, pursing her lips. "I don't. Besides, he…never once noticed me." She paused and added softly, "Since, you know, his eyes were always on someone else."

"And you never tried to talk to him?"

"I have. But the way he looked at her… It just made me feel like he'd never look at me the same way, so I gave up." Tsuyu paused. "It doesn't change the fact that he inspired me in a lot of ways. Granted, it took a while for me to move on from him. I had liked him for such a long time… I'm not going to lie when I say that it hurt me whenever I saw the way he looked at her. The first time I saw that look of his directed toward her…was the day my heart broke in shambles."

Katsuki was…speechless, to say the least, because as he watched her facial expressions, a part of his heart began to feel heavy again. Honestly, the way she spoke about this boy reminded him of how he felt about Ochaco. He didn't know how to respond, but that didn't stop his brain from trying to connect the pieces that she mentioned. He tried to remember who else Tsuyu considered as a best friend, but the only person he knew she could be referring to would've been Ochaco. A _lot_ of boys had liked Ochaco during their high school years, but the way she had described the boy she liked…

Finally, he managed to say, "The girl he liked… Was it Uraraka?"

Tsuyu pursed her lips, hesitating to respond, before she finally nodded. "Yeah. He liked her—a lot."

Immediately, Katsuki's felt his heart sink harder than ever, realizing the only person she could be referring to, and he tried to not let his bitterness show as he frowned. "Was it Deku?"

Tsuyu's eyes widened. "What? No, of course not!"

Katsuki then furrowed his brow, his heavy heart now confused. He couldn't really think of who else she befriended who fit the description of the boy… Then again, she mentioned how he was a loner, and Izuku didn't fit that at all. Hell, now that he thought about it, it might even be a guy he never met before.

Finally, Katsuki frowned, feeling stumped. "I don't get it. Who?"

Tsuyu said nothing in response, choosing to take a bite from her rice instead.

"Tsuyu?"

Tsuyu hesitated again, but continued to take another bite.

Katsuki continued to frown, watching Tsuyu eat in silence, before he sighed. "Look, you're obviously not comfortable with talking to me about this, which is fine—"

"No, it's not. You're my friend, Bakugo, and I _need_ to tell you about this."

Katsuki blinked in surprise, stunned at how clear her voice sounded, despite how hesitant she looked earlier.

"There's a reason why I keep hesitating." Tsuyu paused before she let out a long sigh. "And you'll most likely feel awkward about it…"

Katsuki raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell would I feel awkward?"

"Because…" Tsuyu's voice trailed off before she closed her eyes and put her spoon in her bowl. She let out another steady sigh before she opened her eyes again, this time looking at Katsuki confidently. "Because he's someone you're probably not even expecting, you know? But, like I said, he inspired me to become a better person, take care of myself, and remember not to be so selfless to the point where I destroy myself—even now. And he's someone that everyone in our class probably would've questioned my taste in because he was just _so loud_ , temperamental, and plain old arrogant, and honestly, sometimes, I wondered _how_ in the world I even ended up falling for that silly old blond."

And just like that, Katsuki's eyes widened as everything clicked in his head.

"So, do you get it now?" Tsuyu asked softly, tilting her head with a small rueful smile. "It was you. _You_ were the one I liked."

* * *

To say that Katsuki was shocked was an understatement. It was already the next day, which thankfully was a holiday because his mind still plummeted into pure utter confusion every time he recalled Tsuyu's confession from last night. Hell, his _reaction_ to it was even worse. All he had ended up doing was finishing his meal in silence and then just skedaddling the hell out of her apartment because he couldn't dare to look at her in the eye anymore.

He just didn't understand. How in the world was she okay with even _talking_ to him when he most likely had…broken her heart into shambles so many times? How was she able to come up to him so casually every day, greeting him as if nothing got under her skin? Just…how did she gain the courage to do that? How was she able to move on from how he made her feel—from _him_ and his _presence?_

He just didn't understand it at all.

"Fucking hell," Katsuki grumbled, groaning as he tried to finish the rest of his breakfast. Now that he managed to get his sleeping schedule fixed, maybe he could go for a run to clear his mind of everything that transpired from last night—from her _confession_ —and within seconds, Katsuki groaned again as he recalled the way she looked at him.

Now that he thought about it, she had mentioned she had moved on from him, but there was a small part of him that wondered whether she still had _feelings_ for him. Wouldn't that explain why she invited him over for dinner and was so comfortable with the idea? But, then again, she considered him as a _friend_ , and she had made it clear before that she considered friendship to be more valuable than pursuing a romantic relationship with someone…

"What am I doing?" Katsuki finally mumbled to himself after he finished the last of his breakfast.

Screw it. He may as well just go jogging because at this rate, he would continually think about it until he confronted Tsuyu again, and right now, he didn't have the courage to face her because _for fuck's sake_ , he just found out someone he had befriended used to _like_ him and that he had _broken her heart_ —most likely multiple times, too.

Katsuki then washed his bowl and spoon in the sink before heading to his bedroom, preparing to get changed into his workout clothes. Just then, however, he heard his phone ding and immediately recognized the sound. It was a LINE notification, which meant either Izuku or Eijiro had contacted him.

Once he had gotten dressed, he grabbed his phone and saw that it was from Izuku. Quickly, he tapped on the notification to open the text conversation.

 _Hey Kacchan, do you have any plans this weekend? And you better not be working overtime!_

Katsuki rolled his eyes before he typed, _No, I don't. I'm free on weekends. I wanted to catch up on sleep before school starts. You know I'm not that irresponsible._

 _Yeah, but you have a habit of being reckless, too._

 _Shut up, Deku. Why did you ask me if I had plans anyway?_

 _Oh, um…well, Uraraka invited me to go hang out with her at this amusement park._

Katsuki flinched, feeling his heart immediately drop. He forced himself to sigh to release that heaviness in his chest because deep down, he knew that this was bound to happen, one way or another, and he'd be damned if anything would get in the way of these two getting together.

Finally, Katsuki texted, _Is this a date?_

 _WHAT?!_ _No, no, no, no, IT'S NOT A DATE. I mean, I…I don't think it is! But it's not a date!_

 _Uh-huh… And this is coming from the boy who's so hopelessly in love with her._

 _Wha—Kacchan!_

 _What? It's obvious she's got a thing for you, too. Jeez, it's no wonder she made the first move._

 _KACCHAN! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT. IT'S JUST A HANGOUT!_

 _Keep denying it all you want, but I'm telling you, it's your guys' first date._

 _Kacchan, listen to me! It's just a hangout! It's not a date! Uraraka said she's bringing along Asui!_

Katsuki then blinked a few times before he furrowed his brow. _What?_

 _Yeah, see? It's just a hangout between friends! So, I'm wondering if you'd like to come with this weekend—you know, since it's our last week of freedom before school starts again._

Katsuki pursed his lips, unsure on how to respond. Going to an amusement park, even for a day, seemed like something that would help distract his mind, but at the same time, Ochaco and Tsuyu were _both_ going to be there. Hell, he had even more of a reason to _not_ go now.

 _Also, Kacchan, it's okay if you can't go. I know how tired you probably are from work, so it's okay if you want to rest and relax this weekend instead._

Katsuki groaned. "No, Deku, you idiot… It has nothing to do with that…"

He knew that deep down, he couldn't bring himself to go—and yet, at the same time, as every second passed, he couldn't help but think of Tsuyu because she managed to talk to him normally without reacting the way he was right now. Granted, it was always in her nature to be level-headed, but…

"How does she do it?" Katsuki grumbled before he sighed in defeat and looked back at his phone screen.

 _No, it's fine_ , Katsuki texted. _I'll come._

* * *

Before Katsuki knew it, Saturday, April 22 had rolled around, and there he was, standing with Izuku as they were waiting for Ochaco and Tsuyu. Honestly, he didn't know which girl he felt more anxious over seeing, so he tried to mask it by occasionally glaring off into the distance.

"Kacchan, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Izuku asked, blinking a few times after seeing Katsuki randomly glare for the umpteenth time.

"No," Katsuki replied, frowning.

"Then, why do you keep glaring?"

Katsuki groaned. "I'm just… _impatient_."

Izuku blinked a few times again, this time in skepticism. "For…getting into the amusement park?"

"Yeah."

Izuku hummed, staring at Katsuki, who tried to casually look away and appear normal for once.

Before they knew it, Izuku was immediately tackled and hugged from behind, startling them both as Izuku tried to catch his footing, but once Katsuki's eyes caught a glimpse of that short brown hair and the light pink fleece jacket, he _knew_ who it was, and it took everything in him to _calm_ down.

" _Deku!_ " Ochaco exclaimed happily.

Izuku let out a sigh of relief. "Uraraka, you scared me!"

"Silly, you should've known it was me!"

"Yeah, but I thought I was getting attacked!"

"What? With Bakugo over here glaring at everyone walking past?"

Katsuki felt his breathing hitch as he tried not to react to his last name coming out of Ochaco's mouth, but he stayed silent, averting his gaze from them because _this_ scenario was what he had mentally prepared himself for this past week. Still, he felt his heart drop, despite not witnessing the obvious chemistry between them.

"Kacchan wasn't glaring!" Izuku exclaimed.

Ochaco let out a stiffed laugh. "Yeah, I don't think so. Right, Tsu?"

Within seconds, Katsuki's eyes widened, and he turned around to see Tsuyu, who had finally caught up to them—but no matter how much he stared at her, she didn't look his way. He was reminded again of how things went the last time she had ignored his presence, and he wondered if this was her response to his reaction, so he quickly averted his gaze.

"Honestly, I think his face is permanently like that," Tsuyu replied.

Immediately, Katsuki whirled his head to glare at her. " _Hey!_ "

"See? You should see how he greets his friends at the door, Ochaco—"

"I'm _right fucking here_ , Tsuyu!"

In that instant, Tsuyu finally looked at him in that calm, collected manner as always.

That neutral gaze of hers pierced Katsuki's core immediately. It was enough to shut him up because he realized his _wording_ and remembered how she must've felt back then—specifically when his eyes were always on Ochaco, never her. Still, it took everything in him to not avert his gaze because there was a part of him that still wondered how she was able to move on from him so _easily_ that she could look at him this way.

"Come on, Tsu!" Ochaco exclaimed, breaking the tension between them, as she slung her arm around Tsuyu's shoulder. "Let's go get our tickets!" She immediately grabbed Tsuyu's arm and rushed toward the ticket stand with Tsuyu in tow.

"Wait, Uraraka!" Izuku yelled, already running after her. "We have to stick together as a group!"

Katsuki let out a small sigh before he finally managed to drag his feet forward, bracing himself as best as he could to bear with the eventual interactions between Izuku and Ochaco—no matter how much he knew it'd continually hurt.

* * *

It was awkward for Katsuki, to say the least.

Katsuki found himself asking why in the world he said yes to come along. He noticed that Tsuyu had avoided interacting with and looking at him during all the rollercoasters the entire group rode. When lunch time finally rolled around, Ochaco's stomach started growling, which everyone heard and stared at her.

Ochaco laughed sheepishly. "Guess it's time to eat?"

"Shit's here expensive as hell, though," Katsuki grumbled, averting his gaze elsewhere away from Ochaco.

"Kacchan has a point," Izuku mumbled before he sighed and gave a small pointed look at Katsuki. "Still, we should definitely grab something to eat."

Katsuki scowled. "You guys grab something to eat. I'll just wait until we go get dinner together."

"Kacchan—"

"I can pay for you, if you want, Bakugo," Tsuyu interrupted.

Katsuki felt a part of his hand twitch at hearing Tsuyu's voice directed at him, especially when he shifted his gaze to look at her, realizing then that she _finally_ laid her eyes on him. "No, it's fine. I ate before I left."

That was a lie, of course, and he knew well enough that both Izuku and Tsuyu's stares toward him were trying to find any giveaway on his facial expression, but Katsuki continued to scowl, not daring to be the first to break his gaze.

"All right," Tsuyu replied. "Want to go on the Ferris wheel together?"

Katsuki blinked. "What?"

"I want to check out the Ferris wheel."

Izuku smiled. "We can go together—"

"No, wait, let's get food, Deku!" Ochaco exclaimed, suddenly grabbing onto his arm.

And, of course, Katsuki saw how close she was to his arm and how Izuku had smiled gently at her. The looks exchanged between them, despite how naturally pink Ochaco's cheeks were, were enough to showcase there was more than to their relationship than just friendship.

Katsuki immediately averted his gaze and started walking off.

"What—Kacchan!" he heard Izuku call.

"I'm going to the Ferris wheel with Tsuyu, so go eat your lunch!" Katsuki yelled, preparing to call after Tsuyu to come with him until he realized that she was already beside him. His eyes lingered on her neutral expression and how she just stared ahead so _calmly_ before he finally averted his gaze.

"That was rather subtle of you," Tsuyu said.

Katsuki clicked his tongue. "Shut up."

* * *

It wasn't long before Katsuki and Tsuyu arrived at the Ferris wheel. The cars of the ride were much larger than expected since they were meant to accommodate four people. Surprisingly, the line wasn't that long either, but Katsuki surmised that it was because it was lunch time. Within minutes, Katsuki and Tsuyu got onto the next car and sat across from each other.

Once the door shut, Katsuki let his gaze linger on Tsuyu for a few seconds, watching how she was avoiding making eye contact with him _again_ by looking out the window. Finally, when he heard the ride begin to start, he asked, "Why?"

Tsuyu turned her head to face him. "Why what?"

"Why do you do this to yourself?" Katsuki asked, just loudly enough to be heard over the sounds of the Ferris wheel.

"What do you mean?"

Katsuki groaned. "I meant talking to _me,_ Tsuyu. Why do you talk to me when you know how much I've…" Katsuki didn't dare to continue his sentence; he didn't want to admit to himself _out loud_ that he had broken someone's heart—someone who could empathize with him the most in this situation.

Tsuyu sighed. "I told you that I've moved on—"

"Which doesn't make sense! How the hell are you able to talk to _me—_ someone who's hurt you _multiple_ times—as if…none of that pain happened?"

It was silent, and the atmosphere was tense with Tsuyu's neutral gaze aimed at Katsuki. Still, Katsuki felt a part of his being that was just shaken to the core as every second passed without a response.

Finally, Tsuyu said, "Like I said, I moved on from you."

There was something about the way that Tsuyu said her words that _stung_ Katsuki. He didn't know exactly how else to describe it because all he could think about was how was she able to even have the courage to genuinely talk to him and care about him as a friend? And yet, the way she said how she moved on from him, how she said it with such a neutral face, made it clear that she no longer held any feelings for him.

And thinking about it like that combined with her words made the stinging sensation in his chest feel all the more painful.

"Because I moved on from you, I'm able to talk to you," Tsuyu said. "Even if my feelings did linger, I'd still talk to you."

"Because we're friends," Katsuki muttered.

Tsuyu nodded. "I…initially didn't want to tell you because I knew that you'd try to avoid me or feel awkward around me."

Katsuki cringed because _damn_ , did she hit the nail on the head.

"However, I realized that if I didn't come forth and be honest with you, that wouldn't be fair to you—especially since I know how much you're still in pain because of Ochaco."

Katsuki resisted the urge to flinch as he frowned.

"I know how much you liked Ochaco," Tsuyu said softly. "And I _know_ what it's like to be in your situation, so that's why I don't want you to at least feel alone with those emotions. I know what they're like too well… Sometimes, you don't feel it at all until something triggers you; sometimes, it comes to you out of nowhere, and you feel like your emotions will burst out any second. And, worst of all, you have to appear happy or okay with everything because you want your friends to not suspect anything and be happy with each other."

Katsuki pursed his lips before he let out a long sigh. "Yeah. You're right about that—about _all_ of that, actually—but that doesn't change the fact that you could've just…tried harder."

"What do you mean?"

"We could've been friends sooner if you had tried harder," Katsuki replied, but there was a part of him that didn't feel right with those words that came out of his mouth. It felt as though something was _missing_ —almost as if he should've said more—but he forced himself to keep it out of his mind. There was nothing that could be done about the past, no matter how much he would dwell on it; the only thing he could do now was at least consider what was in front of him and move forward.

"Maybe. But to be fair, you aren't the type of person who likes to make a lot of friends—or even socialize, for that matter."

"Good point." Katsuki paused, his breathing beginning to hitch as every second passed before he finally managed to ask, "Still, Tsuyu, why me?"

"What?"

"Why _me?_ Why…Why did you like me, Tsuyu?"

"I told you why already."

"Yeah, but let's be real here: I was a hot-headed, violent, threatening dude back then."

"And you still aren't now?"

"Don't try to change the subject, Tsuyu."

Tsuyu sighed. "Look, Bakugo, the fact of the matter is that I liked you."

Katsuki felt his heart skip a beat, but whether that was from hearing someone basically confess how they used to like him, he didn't know.

"I no longer feel that way toward you, so that's why it's easy for me to see myself becoming friends with you."

"Yeah, but…I _hurt_ you," Katsuki muttered, feeling his heart slowly become heavy from his guilt.

"Not intentionally," Tsuyu replied gently.

Katsuki scowled. "Bullshit. It doesn't change the fact that I hurt you."

"Bakugo, I see you as my _friend._ You never hurt me intentionally, and if anything, you inspired me to become better and to take care of myself instead of neglecting myself and being so selfless to the point where I forget self-love. I genuinely _care_ about you and your well-being, Bakugo. Really."

Katsuki didn't know what to say to that. He felt speechless, like the wind had been taken out of him. Just when he realized that the ride was about to come to a stop, he asked, his voice barely coming out past a mutter, "Out of curiosity, would you ever like me again?"

Tsuyu blinked in surprise and stayed silent, averting her gaze to the floor.

"Tsuyu?" Katsuki managed to ask, despite hearing his heartbeat pound louder with every passing second.

Finally, Tsuyu looked at him and gave him a smile that made his heart plummet.

Katsuki _recognized_ that smile. It was the same rueful smile that held regret—the same one he had seen from her when she confessed to him that she used to like him. He watched how her eyes revealed her sadness, and he realized then that her honest feelings were showing—her _pain_ that _he_ caused.

"Honestly, Bakugo?" Tsuyu said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know. But, for both of our sakes and for our friendship to stay the way it is, I'm really, really hoping I don't."


End file.
